IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/osf/osfxxx/7pcnm.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Ecologically-mediated collective action in commons with tipping elements

Author

Listed:
  • Barfuss, Wolfram

    (University of Bonn)

  • Donges, Jonathan
  • Bethge, Matthias

Abstract

Collective, cooperative action is critical to sustaining the commons safely away from dangerous tipping elements. Previous work has found a variety of mechanisms for the emergence of cooperation through social interactions. Yet, they cannot always work. Here, we present a theory of ecologically-mediated collective action in commons with tipping elements. We show that even without any direct social interactions, commons with tipping elements can result in a plurality of social incentive regimes, some beneficial for collective conservation, others detrimental. We underpin all incentive regimes with dynamic and boundedly rational collective reinforcement learning. We highlight how our theory can be applied to an ecologically-mediated governance of the commons. Our theory predicts the existence of social tipping points at which collective cooperation becomes self-enforcing and self-sustaining, enabled only by the actors' environmental embeddedness.

Suggested Citation

  • Barfuss, Wolfram & Donges, Jonathan & Bethge, Matthias, 2024. "Ecologically-mediated collective action in commons with tipping elements," OSF Preprints 7pcnm, Center for Open Science.
  • Handle: RePEc:osf:osfxxx:7pcnm
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/7pcnm
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://osf.io/download/65ddd90247a5b705c94100f5/
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.31219/osf.io/7pcnm?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moritz A. Drupp & Ulrike Kornek & Jasper N. Meya & Lutz Sager, 2021. "Inequality and the Environment: The Economics of a Two-Headed Hydra," CESifo Working Paper Series 9447, CESifo.
    2. Simon Levin & Anastasios Xepapadeas, 2021. "On the Coevolution of Economic and Ecological Systems," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 13(1), pages 355-377, October.
    3. Barrett, Scott, 2005. "Environment and Statecraft: The Strategy of Environmental Treaty-Making," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199286096.
    4. Daniel W. O’Neill & Andrew L. Fanning & William F. Lamb & Julia K. Steinberger, 2018. "A good life for all within planetary boundaries," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 1(2), pages 88-95, February.
    5. Peter U. Clark & Nicklas G. Pisias & Thomas F. Stocker & Andrew J. Weaver, 2002. "The role of the thermohaline circulation in abrupt climate change," Nature, Nature, vol. 415(6874), pages 863-869, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dorn, Franziska & Maxand, Simone & Kneib, Thomas, 2024. "The nonlinear dependence of income inequality and carbon emissions: Potentials for a sustainable future," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    2. Michael Jakob & William F. Lamb & Jan Christoph Steckel & Christian Flachsland & Ottmar Edenhofer, 2020. "Understanding different perspectives on economic growth and climate policy," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(6), November.
    3. Castro, Damaris & Bleys, Brent, 2023. "Do people think they have enough? A subjective income sufficiency assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    4. zu Ermgassen, Sophus & Drewniok, Michal & Bull, Joseph & Walker, Christine Corlet & Mancini, Mattia & Ryan-Collins, Josh & Serrenho, André Cabrera, 2022. "A home for all within planetary boundaries: pathways for meeting England’s housing needs without transgressing national climate and biodiversity goals," OSF Preprints 5kxce, Center for Open Science.
    5. Ragnheiður Bogadóttir, 2020. "The Social Metabolism of Quiet Sustainability in the Faroe Islands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    6. Hametner, Markus, 2022. "Economics without ecology: How the SDGs fail to align socioeconomic development with environmental sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    7. Felipe Vásquez & Gibran Vita & Daniel B. Müller, 2018. "Food Security for an Aging and Heavier Population," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-19, October.
    8. Martin L. Weitzman, 2014. "Can Negotiating a Uniform Carbon Price Help to Internalize the Global Warming Externality?," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 29-49.
    9. Vita, Gibran & Lundström, Johan R. & Hertwich, Edgar G. & Quist, Jaco & Ivanova, Diana & Stadler, Konstantin & Wood, Richard, 2019. "The Environmental Impact of Green Consumption and Sufficiency Lifestyles Scenarios in Europe: Connecting Local Sustainability Visions to Global Consequences," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Tallgauer, Maximilian & Schank, Christoph, 2024. "Challenging the growth-prosperity Nexus: Redefining undergraduate economics education for the Anthropocene," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    11. Virág, Doris & Wiedenhofer, Dominik & Baumgart, André & Matej, Sarah & Krausmann, Fridolin & Min, Jihoon & Rao, Narasimha D. & Haberl, Helmut, 2022. "How much infrastructure is required to support decent mobility for all? An exploratory assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    12. Terry Eyland & Georges Zaccour, 2012. "Strategic Effects Of A Border Tax Adjustment," International Game Theory Review (IGTR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(03), pages 1-22.
    13. Emma Hakala & Ville Lähde & Antti Majava & Tero Toivanen & Tere Vadén & Paavo Järvensivu & Jussi T. Eronen, 2019. "Northern Warning Lights: Ambiguities of Environmental Security in Finland and Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, April.
    14. Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica & Stangherlin, Isadora Do Carmo, 2021. "Upcycled by-product use in agri-food systems from a consumer perspective: A review of what we know, and what is missing," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    15. Sandra Waddock, 2020. "Reframing and Transforming Economics around Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-16, September.
    16. Natália M. P. de Alencar & Martin Le Tissier & Shona K. Paterson & Alice Newton, 2020. "Circles of Coastal Sustainability: A Framework for Coastal Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-27, June.
    17. Ravigné, Emilien & Ghersi, Frédéric & Nadaud, Franck, 2022. "Is a fair energy transition possible? Evidence from the French low-carbon strategy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    18. Kristin Linnerud & Erling Holden & Morten Simonsen, 2021. "Closing the sustainable development gap: A global study of goal interactions," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 738-753, July.
    19. Iñigo Capellán-Pérez & David Álvarez-Antelo & Luis J. Miguel, 2019. "Global Sustainability Crossroads : A Participatory Simulation Game to Educate in the Energy and Sustainability Challenges of the 21st Century," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-23, July.
    20. Farley, Joshua & Melgar, Rigo E.M. & Hasan Ansari, Danish & Burke, Matthew J. & Danielsen, Julia & Egler, Megan & Makombore, Lizah & Neira, Juliana & Poudel, Shashank & Sellers, Shaun & Smolyar, Nina , 2024. "Rethinking ecosystem services from the anthropocene to the Ecozoic: Nature’s benefits to the biotic community," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:osf:osfxxx:7pcnm. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: OSF (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://osf.io/preprints/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.