Majoritarian management of the commons

This article analyzes usage of a common property resource, "the commons," u nder collectivization as compared with more familiar privatization institut ional arrangements. Particular emphasis is on majority decision rules. When separate majority coalitions may authorize simultaneous usage of a common resource total value is dissipated, but the interdependencies introduced by possible membership in differing coalitions to an extent reduce the incent ives for exploitation. The formal analysis is analogous to that familiar in Cournot-Nash duopoly-oligopoly models but with differing efficiency implic ations. The argument has relevance for differential-benefit public spending from general tax sources, as well as other applications.