Common Resources
Common Goods and the Importance of Property Rights
Common resources are goods that are free of charge to the general public. However, they give rise to a new problem, their distribution within the market. If it is not done in the most efficient way, market failure emerges. Therefore, society relies upon the government to allocate these resources and protect the environment. When the market fails to allocate these resources, it's because property rights are not well established. That is to say, some resources do not have an owner with the legal right to control them. For example no one doubts the goodness of clean air, yet no one has the right to put a price on it. As a result a factory pollutes as much as it wants. When the absence of property rights causes a market failure the government has to intervene to solve the problem. They do this in a number of ways - through the sale of pollution permits, for example.
In order for the government to regulate common resources such as clean water, air, fish and other wildlife they impose fees to prevent them from being depleted. The ocean is a vast resource and because it borders so many countries it is difficult to reach a common policy concerning the maritime population and its most effective usage.
Within Europe there are laws and regulations put into place in order to stop the depletion of commercially valuable fish. As Europe has more than 70,000 kilometres of coastline, the Common Fishery Policy has been introduced and its main objectives are to protect the fish stock against over-fishing, to guarantees incomes for the fishermen and to ensure a sustainable eco system.
The Common Fishery Policy sets out the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the each individual EU Member State, and it is set annually by the Council of Ministers. It also sets out the European Fishery Fund which has - between 2007 and 2013 - a budget of €4.3 billion. These funds will go towards the different sectors of the industry such as the sea, land and aquaculture. However particular attention is given to small communities and those who have been affected by the recent change in the industry, itself.
The CFP has a set of over 25 inspectors which make 130 inspections trips in any one year. Their job is to test national inspection systems for flows and loopholes. In 2007 the Commission suspected that cod landings in the Baltic Sea were severely under-declared and as a result inspectors were sent over to check the results of the national declaration and inspection systems. In the same year the Commission went about implementing the system on other member states. By targeting their mission carefully it had a great impact on United Kingdom and Ireland, where the national authorities were able to identify miss-declarations of catches.
As a result we see laws and regulations such as the TAC put into place for common goods in order to ensure their efficient usage. Because the common resource is not owned by anyone, people tend to use it excessively. As Aristotle pointed out the problem with the common resources “what is common to many is taken least care of, for all men have greater regard for what is their own, than for what they possess in common with others” Therefore, governments try to limit the usage of common resources by putting in place laws and regulations.
In order for the government to regulate common resources such as clean water, air, fish and other wildlife they impose fees to prevent them from being depleted. The ocean is a vast resource and because it borders so many countries it is difficult to reach a common policy concerning the maritime population and its most effective usage.
Within Europe there are laws and regulations put into place in order to stop the depletion of commercially valuable fish. As Europe has more than 70,000 kilometres of coastline, the Common Fishery Policy has been introduced and its main objectives are to protect the fish stock against over-fishing, to guarantees incomes for the fishermen and to ensure a sustainable eco system.
The Common Fishery Policy sets out the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the each individual EU Member State, and it is set annually by the Council of Ministers. It also sets out the European Fishery Fund which has - between 2007 and 2013 - a budget of €4.3 billion. These funds will go towards the different sectors of the industry such as the sea, land and aquaculture. However particular attention is given to small communities and those who have been affected by the recent change in the industry, itself.
The CFP has a set of over 25 inspectors which make 130 inspections trips in any one year. Their job is to test national inspection systems for flows and loopholes. In 2007 the Commission suspected that cod landings in the Baltic Sea were severely under-declared and as a result inspectors were sent over to check the results of the national declaration and inspection systems. In the same year the Commission went about implementing the system on other member states. By targeting their mission carefully it had a great impact on United Kingdom and Ireland, where the national authorities were able to identify miss-declarations of catches.
As a result we see laws and regulations such as the TAC put into place for common goods in order to ensure their efficient usage. Because the common resource is not owned by anyone, people tend to use it excessively. As Aristotle pointed out the problem with the common resources “what is common to many is taken least care of, for all men have greater regard for what is their own, than for what they possess in common with others” Therefore, governments try to limit the usage of common resources by putting in place laws and regulations.