Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.


Science 13 December 1968:
Vol. 162. no. 3859, pp. 1243 - 1248
DOI: 10.1126/science.162.3859.1243

Articles

The Tragedy of the Commons

Garrett Hardin

The population problem has no technical solution; it requires a fundamental extension in morality.

The author is professor of biology, University of California, Santa Barbara. This article is based on a presidential address presented before the meeting of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at Utah State University, Logan, 25 June 1968.


Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Lobster Tale: An Exercise in Critical Thinking.
P. L. Stepanovich (2009)
Journal of Management Education 33, 725-746
   Abstract »    PDF »
Pattern-Oriented Modeling of Commons Dilemma Experiments.
M. A. Janssen, N. P. Radtke, and A. Lee (2009)
Adaptive Behavior 17, 508-523
   Abstract »    PDF »
Crowdsourcing, attention and productivity.
B. A. Huberman, D. M. Romero, and F. Wu (2009)
Journal of Information Science 35, 758-765
   Abstract »    PDF »
Population Structure Mediates Sexual Conflict in Water Striders.
O. T. Eldakar, M. J. Dlugos, J. W. Pepper, and D. S. Wilson (2009)
Science 326, 816
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Applying Systems Thinking to Sustainable Golf Tourism.
A. G. Woodside (2009)
Journal of Travel Research 48, 205-215
   Abstract »    PDF »
Open Sourcing Our Way to an Online Commons: Contesting Corporate Impermeability in the New Media Ecology.
K. Milberry and S. Anderson (2009)
Journal of Communication Inquiry 33, 393-412
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Tragedy of the Commons Revisited.
R. Fadul (2009)
N. Engl. J. Med. 361, e105
   Full Text »
Positive Interactions Promote Public Cooperation.
D. G. Rand, A. Dreber, T. Ellingsen, D. Fudenberg, and M. A. Nowak (2009)
Science 325, 1272-1275
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Tragedy of the Commons Revisited.
R. Fadul (2009)
N. Engl. J. Med.
   Full Text »
Political geographies of Mars: A history of Martian management.
C. Collis and P. Graham (2009)
Management & Organizational History 4, 247-261
   Abstract »    PDF »
Paving the planet: impervious surface as proxy measure of the human ecological footprint.
P. C. Sutton, S. J. Anderson, C. D. Elvidge, B. T. Tuttle, and T. Ghosh (2009)
Progress in Physical Geography 33, 510-527
   Abstract »    PDF »
It Ain't Natural: Toward a New (Natural) Resource Conceptualization for Volunteer Management.
J. L. Brudney and L. C. P. M. Meijs (2009)
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 38, 564-581
   Abstract »    PDF »
Social Choice in a Computer-Assisted Simulation.
P. Thavikulwat (2009)
Simulation Gaming 40, 488-512
   Abstract »    PDF »
A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems.
E. Ostrom (2009)
Science 325, 419-422
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Problem With Being Special: Democratic Values and Special Assessments.
V. Kogan and M. D. McCubbins (2009)
Public Works Management Policy 14, 4-36
   Abstract »    PDF »
A model for NICE in the US.
R E Ferner and S. E McDowell (2009)
BMJ 338, b2221
   Full Text »
Organic Farming as a Rational Choice: Empirical Investigations in Environmental Decision Making.
H. Best (2009)
Rationality and Society 21, 197-224
   Abstract »    PDF »
Least-Cost Avoidance: The Tragedy of Common Safety.
G. Dari-Mattiacci and N. Garoupa (2009)
J. Law Econ. Organ. 25, 235-261
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Relocating Energy in the Social Commons: Ideas for a Sustainable Energy Utility.
J. Byrne, C. Martinez, and C. Ruggero (2009)
Bulletin of Science Technology Society 29, 81-94
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Restoration of a Local Energy Regime Amid Trends of Power Liberalization in East Asia: The Seoul Sustainable Energy Utility.
J.-M. Yu (2009)
Bulletin of Science Technology Society 29, 124-138
   Abstract »    PDF »
Antibiotic use and population ecology: How you can reduce your "resistance footprint".
D. M. Patrick MD MHSc and J. Hutchinson MD (2009)
Can. Med. Assoc. J. 180, 416-421
   Full Text »    PDF »
Carrots, Sticks, and the Multiplication Effect.
G. Dari-Mattiacci and G. D. Geest (2009)
J. Law Econ. Organ.
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Local Common Property Exploitation with Rewards.
A. B. Johannesen and A. Skonhoft (2009)
Land Economics 85, 637-654
   Abstract »    PDF »
Communication, Coordination, and Camaraderie in World of Warcraft.
M. G. Chen (2009)
Games and Culture 4, 47-73
   Abstract »    PDF »
Youth and Immigrants' Perspectives on Public Spaces.
M. van Lieshout and N. Aarts (2008)
Space and Culture 11, 497-513
   Abstract »    PDF »
Outcomes of Collective Decisions With Externalities Predicted.
J. Dijkstra, M. A.L.M. Van Assen, and F. N. Stokman (2008)
Journal of Theoretical Politics 20, 415-441
   Abstract »    PDF »
Emerging Commons.
J. B. Holder and T. Flessas (2008)
Social Legal Studies 17, 299-310
   Abstract »    PDF »
What Public Presence? Access, Commons and Property Rights.
J. Mitchell (2008)
Social Legal Studies 17, 351-367
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Repatriation Debate and the Discourse of the Commons.
T. Flessas (2008)
Social Legal Studies 17, 387-405
   Abstract »    PDF »
Scientific Multiples, Neuroradiology, and the American Journal of Neuroradiology.
M. Castillo (2008)
AJNR Am. J. Neuroradiol. 29, 1423-1424
   Full Text »    PDF »
Sustaining the Commons: The Tragedy Works Both Ways.
M. Ellerbrock, J. Bayer, and R. Bradshaw (2008)
Bulletin of Science Technology Society 28, 256-259
   Abstract »    PDF »
Book Review: Spaces of Sustainability: Geographical Perspectives on the Sustainable Society Mark Whitehead, 2007 London: Routledge 242 pp. {pound}22.50 paperback ISBN 9780415358040 Green Cities: Urban Growth and the Environment Matthew E. Kahn, 2006 Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press 160 pp. {pound}11.99 Paperback ISBN 139780815748151.
G. Pellegrini Masini (2008)
Urban Stud 45, 997-999
   PDF »
Going Beyond Green: The "Why and How" of Integrating Sustainability Into the Marketing Curriculum.
C. M. Bridges and W. B. Wilhelm (2008)
Journal of Marketing Education 30, 33-46
   Abstract »    PDF »
Improving Income Positions of Primary Producers in International Marketing Channels: The Lake Victoria--EU Nile Perch Case.
E. Kambewa, P. Ingenbleek, and A. van Tilburg (2008)
Journal of Macromarketing 28, 53-67
   Abstract »    PDF »
Community-based Planning and Poverty Alleviation in Oaxaca, Mexico.
D. R. Mason and V. A. Beard (2008)
Journal of Planning Education and Research 27, 245-260
   Abstract »    PDF »
From the Cover: The collective-risk social dilemma and the prevention of simulated dangerous climate change.
(2008)
PNAS 105, 2291-2294
Book review: Verdery, K. and Humphrey, C., editors 2004: Property in question: value transformation in the global economy.Oxford: Berg Publishers. x + 320 pp. {pound}55 cloth, {pound}17.99 paper. ISBN: 1 85973 882 6 cloth, 1 85973 887 7 paper.
S. Robertson (2008)
Progress in Human Geography 32, 169-171
   PDF »
The Comparison of Four Types of Everyday Interdependencies: Externalities in Exchange Networks.
J. Dijkstra and M. A. L. M. van Assen (2008)
Rationality and Society 20, 115-143
   Abstract »    PDF »
The `collapse' of civilizations: what palaeoenvironmental reconstruction cannot tell us, but anthropology can.
P. O'Sullivan (2008)
The Holocene 18, 45-55
   Abstract »    PDF »
Local Culture, Technological Change and Riverine Fisheries Management in Kerala, South India.
S. D. Santha (2008)
International Journal of Rural Management 4, 25-45
   Abstract »    PDF »
Foundations of Europe: Making globalization work for health.
J. Wyn Owen (2007)
Scand J Public Health 35, 337-340
   PDF »
The Effects of Liberalism on the Terrestrial Environment.
Q. Li and R. Reuveny (2007)
Conflict Management and Peace Science 24, 219-238
   Abstract »    PDF »
Envisioning a Future for Macromarketing.
G. Fisk (2006)
Journal of Macromarketing 26, 214-218
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Macromarketing Mosaic.
R. W. Nason (2006)
Journal of Macromarketing 26, 219-223
   Abstract »    PDF »
Access, Responsibility, and Funding: A Systems Thinking Approach to Universal Access to Oral Health..
P. H. Werhane (2006)
J Dent Educ. 70, 1184-1195
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Green politics or environmental blues? Analyzing ecological democracy.
R. E. Mitchell (2006)
Public Understanding of Science 15, 459-480
   Abstract »    PDF »
Arable Land as Commons: Land Reallocation in Early Modern Japan.
P. C. Brown (2006)
Social Science History 30, 431-461
   Abstract »    PDF »
Corruption, Democracy, and Environmental Policy: An Empirical Contribution to the Debate.
L. Pellegrini and R. Gerlagh (2006)
The Journal of Environment Development 15, 332-354
   Abstract »    PDF »
Theorizing Peace Parks: Two Models of Collective Action.
R. P. Lejano (2006)
Journal of Peace Research 43, 563-581
   Abstract »    PDF »
Collective Action and Community-driven Development in Rural and Urban Indonesia.
V. A. Beard and A. Dasgupta (2006)
Urban Stud 43, 1451-1468
   Abstract »    PDF »
Hollywood versus the Internet: the media and entertainment industries in a digital and networked economy.
A. Currah (2006)
J. Econ. Geogr. 6, 439-468
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dysfunctions and Sub-optimal Behaviours of Rural Development Networks.
C. Cannarella and V. Piccioni (2006)
International Journal of Rural Management 2, 29-56
   Abstract »    PDF »
Is Full Compliance Possible?: Conditions for Shirking with Imperfect Monitoring and Continuous Action Spaces.
J. Bednar (2006)
Journal of Theoretical Politics 18, 347-375
   Abstract »    PDF »
Political ecology: where is the policy?.
P. A. Walker (2006)
Progress in Human Geography 30, 382-395
   PDF »
From "publish or perish" to "patent and prosper"..
H. K. Schachman (2006)
J. Biol. Chem. 281, 6889-6903
   Full Text »    PDF »
Stabilizing the Earth's climate is not a losing game: Supporting evidence from public goods experiments..
M. Milinski, D. Semmann, H.-J. Krambeck, and J. Marotzke (2006)
PNAS 103, 3994-3998
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
What Makes Collective Goods a Shared Concern?: Re-Constructing the Construction of the Collectiveness of Goods.
A. Schnabel (2006)
Rationality and Society 18, 5-34
   Abstract »    PDF »
The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute.
M. S C Lim, M. E Hellard, and C. K Aitken (2005)
BMJ 331, 1498-1500
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Metabolic Rift and Marine Ecology: An Analysis of the Ocean Crisis Within Capitalist Production.
R. Clausen and B. Clark (2005)
Organization Environment 18, 422-444
   Abstract »    PDF »
Understanding the Social Costs of Narcissism: The Case of the Tragedy of the Commons.
W. K. Campbell, C. P. Bush, A. B. Brunell, and J. Shelton (2005)
Pers Soc Psychol Bull 31, 1358-1368
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Japanese healthcare system.
H. Nomura and T. Nakayama (2005)
BMJ 331, 648-649
   Full Text »    PDF »
The Compact City Fallacy.
M. Neuman (2005)
Journal of Planning Education and Research 25, 11-26
   Abstract »    PDF »
Toward a Political Rehabilitation of Environmentalism: Daniel Kemmis's Community and the Politics of Place.
J. P. Greear (2005)
Organization Environment 18, 338-347
   Abstract »    PDF »
Insurance in a Climate of Change.
E. Mills (2005)
Science 309, 1040-1044
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
People vs. Malthus: Population Pressure, Environmental Degradation, and Armed Conflict Revisited.
H. Urdal (2005)
Journal of Peace Research 42, 417-434
   Abstract »    PDF »
Zooming In and Out: Connecting Individuals and Collectivities at the Frontiers of Organizational Network Research.
H. Ibarra, M. Kilduff, and W. Tsai (2005)
Organization Science 16, 359-371
   Abstract »    PDF »
Natural-resource exploitation with costly enforcement of property rights.
L. Hotte (2005)
Oxf. Econ. Pap. 57, 497-521
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
An Appraisal of the Critique of Anthropocentrism and Three Lesser Known Themes in Lynn White's "The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis".
B. A. Minteer and R. E. Manning (2005)
Organization Environment 18, 163-176
   Abstract »    PDF »
Things Change: Dynamic Resource Constraints and System-Dependent Selection in the Evolution of Organizational Populations.
A. Lomi, E. R. Larsen, and J. H. Freeman (2005)
Management Science 51, 882-903
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Anatomy of a Pickle.
M. Schlesinger (2005)
Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law 30, 315-326
   PDF »
Virulence and competitive ability in genetically diverse malaria infections.
J. C. de Roode, R. Pansini, S. J. Cheesman, M. E. H. Helinski, S. Huijben, A. R. Wargo, A. S. Bell, B. H. K. Chan, D. Walliker, and A. F. Read (2005)
PNAS 102, 7624-7628
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Environmental Conflict Between Refugee and Host Communities.
A. Martin (2005)
Journal of Peace Research 42, 329-346
   Abstract »    PDF »
Measuring Residents' Attitude toward Sustainable Tourism: Development of Sustainable Tourism Attitude Scale.
H.-S. C. Choi and E. Sirakaya (2005)
Journal of Travel Research 43, 380-394
   Abstract »    PDF »
Nested Levels of Institutions: State Rules and City Property Taxes.
B. C. McCabe and R. C. Feiock (2005)
Urban Affairs Review 40, 634-654
   Abstract »    PDF »
Knowledge commons or economic engine - what's a university for?.
B. Williams-Jones (2005)
J. Med. Ethics 31, 249-250
   Full Text »    PDF »
Environmental Concern, Regional Identity, and Support for Protected Areas in Italy.
G. Carrus, M. Bonaiuto, and M. Bonnes (2005)
Environment and Behavior 37, 237-257
   Abstract »    PDF »
Globalization and Development: An Expanded Macromarketing View.
W. E. Kilbourne (2004)
Journal of Macromarketing 24, 122-135
   Abstract »    PDF »
Globalization, Transformation, and Quality of Life: Reflections on ICMD-8 and Participative Marketing and Development.
C. J. Shultz II, D. R. Rahtz, and M. Speece (2004)
Journal of Macromarketing 24, 168-172
   Abstract »    PDF »
Overcoming Barriers to Ecologically Sensitive Land Management: Conservation Subdivisions, Green Developments, and the Development of a Land Ethic.
R. H. Thompson (2004)
Journal of Planning Education and Research 24, 141-153
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Impact of Economic Development in James Bay, Canada: The Cree Tallymen Speak Out.
G. Whiteman (2004)
Organization Environment 17, 425-448
   Abstract »    PDF »
2004 Presidential Address: The Sheep, the Ostrich, the Ant, Diabetes, and the Tragedy of the Common.
E. J. Barrett (2004)
Diabetes Care 27, 3005-3008
   Full Text »    PDF »
The Evolutionary Origin of Cooperators and Defectors.
M. Doebeli, C. Hauert, and T. Killingback (2004)
Science 306, 859-862
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Health of the People: The Highest Law?.
L. O. Gostin (2004)
J. Law Med. Ethics 32, 509-515
   PDF »
Why are we Talking Inside?: Reflecting on Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Management Research.
G. Whiteman (2004)
Journal of Management Inquiry 13, 261-277
   Abstract »    PDF »
A Test of the Individual Action Model for Organizational Information Commons.
J. Fulk, R. Heino, A. J. Flanagin, P. R. Monge, and F. Bar (2004)
Organization Science 15, 569-585
   Abstract »    PDF »
Virulence, Multiple Infections and Regulation of Symbiotic Population in the Wolbachia-Asobara tabida Symbiosis.
L. Mouton, F. Dedeine, H. Henri, M. Bouletreau, N. Profizi, and F. Vavre (2004)
Genetics 168, 181-189
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Human Nature and Sustainable Development: A Strategic Challenge for Planners.
E. J. Jepson Jr. (2004)
Journal of Planning Literature 19, 3-15
   Abstract »    PDF »
Biofilms promote altruism.
J.-U. Kreft (2004)
Microbiology 150, 2751-2760
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
"That's Cheap." the Rational Invocation of Norms, Practices, and an Ethos in Ultimate Frisbee.
B. Robbins (2004)
Journal of Sport and Social Issues 28, 314-337
   Abstract »    PDF »
Theorizing Land-Cover and Land-Use Change: The Case of Tropical Deforestation.
R. Walker (2004)
International Regional Science Review 27, 247-270
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Effects of Environmental Heterogeneity on Root Growth and Root/Shoot Partitioning.
M. J. HUTCHINGS and E. A. JOHN (2004)
Ann. Bot. 94, 1-8
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Self-enforcing climate-change treaties.
P. K. Dutta and R. Radner (2004)
PNAS 101, 5174-5179
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Who Owns Biodiversity, and How Should the Owners Be Compensated?.
P. Gepts (2004)
Plant Physiology 134, 1295-1307
   Full Text »    PDF »
The Nash equilibrium: A perspective.
C. A. Holt and A. E. Roth (2004)
PNAS 101, 3999-4002
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ethnic Minorities and Development: A Prospective Look at the Situation of African Pastoralists and Hunter-Gatherers.
J. R. Campbell (2004)
Ethnicities 4, 5-26
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Greening and Governance of Crime Control.
B. Vaughan (2004)
JCriminology and Criminal Justice 4, 5-28
   Abstract »    PDF »
How Subgroup Interests and Reputations Moderate the Effect of Organizational Identification on Cooperation.
J. T. Polzer (2004)
Journal of Management 30, 71-96
   Abstract »    PDF »
Investigating Conflict, Power, and Status Within and Among Groups.
J. Sell, M. J. Lovaglia, E. A. Mannix, C. D. Samuelson, and R. K. Wilson (2004)
Small Group Research 35, 44-72
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Kyoto commons -- A tragedy?.
(2004)
Can. Med. Assoc. J. 170, 165
   Full Text »



To Advertise     Find Products


Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)