The tragedy of the anticommons occurs when too many individuals have rights of exclusion (such as property rights) in a scarce resource. The 'tragedy' consists of the fact that rational individuals, acting separately, may collectively waste the resource by under-utilizing it. This situation (the "anticommons") is contrasted with a commons, where too many individuals have privileges of use (or the right not to be excluded) in a scarce resource. The tragedy of the commons is that rational individuals, acting separately, may collectively over-utilize a scarce resource.
The term "tragedy of the anticommons" was originally coined by Harvard Law professor Frank Michelman and popularized in 1998 by Michael Heller, a law professor at Columbia University.
References
- Heller, M. A. (1998): "The Tragedy of the Anticommons" Harvard Law Review, January 1998.
- Hickman, J. and Dolman, E.: "Resurrecting the Space Age: A State-Centered Commentary on the Outer Space Regime," Comparative Strategy, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2002.
- Depoorter, B., Parisi, F. and Schulz, N.: "Fragmentation in Property: Towards a General Model", JOURNAL OF INSTITUTIONAL AND THEORETICAL ECONOMICS, Vol. 159, 594-613 2003.
