A common resource is a type of good consisting of a natural or human-made resource system, whose size or characteristics makes it costly, but not impossible, to exclude potential beneficiaries from obtaining benefits from its use.

Food commodities

• Cereals.
• Dairy.
• Meat.
• Fruit and vegetables.
• Potatoes.
• Poultry.
• Eggs.
• Sugar.

A common resource versus a commodity Food, a limited yet renewable resource that comes in both wild and cultivated forms, is essential for human existence. Over time, it has evolved from a local resource held in common into a private, transnational commodity.

Definition: Common property resources (environmental) are natural resources owned and managed collectively by a community or society rather than by individuals.

The best examples of common-property goods come from the natural environment. The atmosphere, oceans, other large bodies of water, and wilderness areas are common-property goods. These goods are readily accessible to all users. No one can be excluded from using the air or the oceans.

There are two dominant conceptual models of common property resource management: a capitalist model and a socialist model. The capitalist model argues that resources that are held commonly are subject to degradation. Hence, privatization of public resources is the only viable solution to the problem.

The use of the term “common property resource” to designate a type of good has been criticized, because common-pool resources are not necessarily governed by common property protocols. Examples of common-pool resources include irrigation systems, fishing grounds, pastures, forests, water or the atmosphere.

Two defining characteristics of a common resource are rivalry and nonexcludability: Nonexcludabiity- Regarding common resources, nonexcludability refers to the inability to exclude others from using the resource.

One of the greatest challenges we face when managing natural resources for long-term human benefit is the “common pool” problem. This is the tendency for individual users to exploit limited resources to capture benefits that would otherwise go to their competitors.

Characteristics of a enduring Common Pool Resource (CPR)

• Clearly defined boundaries.
• Congruence between appropriation and provision rules and local conditions.
• Collective-choice arrangements.
• Monitoring.
• Graduated sanctions.
• Conflict-resolution mechanism.
• Minimal recognition of right to organize.
• Nested enterprises (for larger systems)

8 Principles for Managing a Commons

1. Define clear group boundaries.
2. Match rules governing use of common goods to local needs and conditions.
3. Ensure that those affected by the rules can participate in modifying the rules.
4. Make sure the rule-making rights of community members are respected by outside authorities.

Some classic examples of common-pool resources are fisheries, forests, underwater basins, and irrigation systems. Common-pool resources are susceptible to overuse and are thus prone to “tragedies of the commons,” which are present when individual and group interests are in conflict.

In economic terms, the tragedy of the commons may occur when an economic good is both rivalrous in consumption and non-excludable. These types of goods are called common-pool resource goods (as opposed to private goods, club goods, or public goods).

Natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable, and ecosystem services are a part of the real wealth of nations. They are the natural capital out of which other forms of capital are made. They contribute towards fiscal revenue, income, and poverty reduction.

CPRs are non-excludable, meaning that individuals or populationsDemographicsDemographics refer to the socio-economic characteristics of a population that businesses use to identify the product preferences and typically can’t be prevented from using them, even if they aren’t paying for them.

The atmosphere is a global common-pool resource in its function as a sink for CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Interestingly, oceans and forests are also global common-pool resources that serve as important sources of biodiversity, exhaustible minerals and fish resources.

Examples of club goods include, cinemas, cable television, access to copyrighted works, and the services provided by social or religious clubs to their members.

In economic terms, the Internet is a common pool resource; but non-rivalrous (he has to say this because common pool resources are by definition rivalrous) and non-excludable to such an extreme that to call it a pool or a resource is to insult what makes it common (not only does the internet fail the test of being a …

Once a large number of people begin using the free internet service, it is a common resource. It is still not excludable, but it is now rival in consumption.

Examples of club goods include private golf courses, cinemas, toll roads. A non-congested toll road is an example of a club good. It is possible to exclude someone from using it by simply denying them access but it is not a rival good since one person’s use of the road does not reduce its usefulness to others.