Common Pool Resources Explained

• Common pool resources aren't owned, priced, or restricted, and anyone can use them freely.
• Examples include clean air, lakes, rivers, fish, wildlife, forests, soil fertility, open grazing land, the ozone layer, and a stable global climate.

Understanding Common Pool Resources

• Common pool resources are rivalrous and non-excludable.
• Rivalrous - Consumption by one person reduces availability for others
• Examples are computers, textbooks, and clothes
• Private goods are rivalrous
• Excludable - It is possible to prevent people from using the good
• Exclusion is typically done by charging a price
• Private goods are excludable
• Common pool resources are also rivalrous.
• Using clean air reduces its availability to others
• Catching fish reduces the supply of fish for others
• Affecting global climate stability impacts future generations
• Common pool resources are non-excludable because they have no price or means to restrict access.
• Non-excludable - It is not possible to exclude someone from using a good/resource
• The combination of rivalrous and non-excludable characteristics poses threats to the environment
• Rivalry leads to reduced availability, while non-excludability leads to overuse and degradation.
• Factories, homes, and cars overuse air/water resources by emitting pollutants without paying.
• Overfishing depletes the global stock of fish and disrupts marine ecosystems. Forests cleared for agriculture/timber lead to biodiversity loss, ozone layer depletion, and climate change.
• Overgrazing, soil erosion/salinization, and habitat destruction from agriculture all contribute to environmental degradation and depletion of common pool resources.

Tragedy of the Commons

• The tragedy of the commons illustrates resource overuse when there are no usage restrictions.
• Herders grazing cattle on a shared pasture initially benefit, but increasing cattle leads to overgrazing, erosion, and pasture destruction
• The pasture is rivalrous because grass eaten by one animal isn't available for others and is non-excludable since no herder can exclude others.

Sustainability and Common Pool Resources

• Sustainable production - When resources are used without degrading or depleting them
• Unsustainable production - When resources are used in a way that depletes or degrades them
• Fish in the open seas are a common pool resource accessible to all without payment.
• Constant average yield occurs as the first three boats catch 4 tonnes each; together, they catch 12 tonnes
• Decreasing average yield occurs when the fourth and fifth boats are added, catch decreases, and average catch falls
• Absolutely decreasing yield occurs when more boats result in less fish
• Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) occurs when resource use is sustainable because the resource can reproduce itself; points to the left indicate sustainable use, and to the right unsustainable use.
• Sustainable resource use means using resources at a rate that allows them to reproduce without being degraded or depleted.

Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources

• Non-renewable resources - Resources with finite supply (metals, minerals, fossil fuels) that take thousands/millions of years to reproduce
• Many non-renewable ones can be recycled for indefinite use but fossil fuels are destroyed and have negative impacts.
• Renewable resources - Resources that can last if managed properly (forests, wildlife, fish, biomass, water, soil, biodiversity), reproducing in short periods through natural processes
• Sustainable resource use applies mainly to renewable resources through proper management
• The concept of sustainable resource use does not necessarily apply to non-renewable resources like fossil fuels

Explore common pool resources (CPRs) and their characteristics. CPRs are rivalrous and non-excludable, meaning consumption reduces availability for others, and access cannot be easily restricted. Examples include clean air, rivers, and forests, highlighting the challenge of managing these vital resources.