Interaction of research programmes in social science studies of the commons

Social science studies of the commons are characterized by two relatively c lear-cut theoretical traditions, here labelled 'the tragedy of the commons' and 'co-operative action theory'. These differ substantially both in their basic assumptions and epistemological prescriptions; or 'hard cores' and ' protective belts', to use Lakatos's (1974) tools for evaluating scientific research programmes. It is suggested that 'the tragedy of the commons' trad ition scores higher on Lakatos's criterion of coherence, whereas 'co-operat ive action theory' has been more successful in the production of novel empi rical findings. Furthermore, the contrasting effect between the two traditi ons is believed to have contributed to an overall growth of knowledge withi n the field of study. (C) Scandinavian Sociological Association 1999.