The Political Economy of Customs and Culture:
Informal Solutions to the Commons Problems
Terry L. Anderson and Randy T. Simmons, Editors
Informal customs and traditions can serve as alternatives to private property rights, preventing the “tragedy of the commons” – overuse of resources. The book presents both theory and empirical evidence, with many examples of informal controls. These include customs surrounding lobster fisheries in Maine; grazing in the Swiss Alps, Iceland, and Kenya; and trapping and hunting by Cree Indians in Quebec.
Terry L. Anderson is the executive director of PERC and a professor of economics at Montana State University. Randy T. Simmons is a PERC senior associate, director of the Institute of Political Economy and head of the department of political science at Utah State University.
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
4720 Boston Way
Lanham, MD 20706
800-462-6420
www.rowmanlittlefield.com
1993; 189 pp.
