Abstract
The “tragedy of the commons” is the familiar problem that open access to a common property resource leads to overexploitation and to zero profits. A commons model is applied to an example of state sponsored private violence, the practice of privateering or licensed piracy. It is predicted that the presence of uncertainty about the value of the prey will reduce the amount of exploitation effort, and that industry profits may be positive due to both uncertainty and heterogeneous exploiters. Using data from England's wars with France and Spain between 1625 and 1630, the model suggests that the commons, represented by enemy merchant shipping, was not overexploited and that privateering profits were positive. The dynamic paths of privateering effort, ships seized, and individual firm profits were, however, consistent with the normal expectation that commons exploitation will peak and fall, as competition drives down returns through entry.
“England was never richer than when at war with Spain.”
Sir Edward Coke
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andersen, P. (1982). Commercial fisheries under price uncertainty.Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 9: 11–28.
Andrews, K.R. (1966).Elizabethan privateering. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Andrews, K.R. (1975). The expansion of English privateering and piracy in the Atlantic, 1540–1625. In Commission Internationale d'Histoire Maritime (Ed.),Course et piraterie. Vol. 2. Paris: Institute de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes.
Appleby, J. (1983). English privateering during the Spanish and French wars, 1625–1630. Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Hull.
Bell, F. (1972). Technological externalities and common property resources: An empirical study of the US northern lobster fishery.Journal of Political Economy 80: 148–158.
Chaunu, H. and Chaunu P. (1956).Seville et l'atlantique. Vol. 6. Paris: SEVPEN.
Conybeare, J.A.C. (1987).Trade wars. New York: Columbia University Press.
Cornes, R. and Sandler, T. (1983). On commons and tragedies.American Economic Review 73: 787–792.
Cornes, R. and Sandler, T. (1986).The theory of externalities, public goods and club goods. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Dasgupta, P. and Heal G. (1979).Economic theory and exhaustible resources. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Davis, R. (1966). The rise of protectionism in England.Economic History Review 19: 306–317.
Gordon, H.S. (1954). The economic theory of a common property resource: The fishery.Journal of Political Economy 62: 124–142.
Hardin, G. (1968). The tragedy of the commons.Science 162: 1243–1248.
Haveman, R. (1973). Common property, congestion, and environmental pollution.Quarterly Journal of Economics 7: 278–287.
Johnson, R. and Libecap, G. (1982). Contracting problems and regulation: The case of the fishery.American Economic Review 72: 1005–1022.
Kenyon, J.P. (1978).Stuart England. New York: Penguin.
Kepler, J.S. (1973). The value of ships gained and lost by the English shipping industry during the wars with Spain and France, 1624–1630.Mariners's Mirror 54: 218–222.
Mickolus, E.F. (1989). What constitutes state support to terrorism?Terrorism and Political Violence 1: 287–293.
Morineau, M. (1970). Flottes de commerce et trafics français en mediterranee au XVIIe siecle, jusqu'en 1669.XVIIe Siecle 96–97: 135–171.
Neher, P. (1978). the pure theory of muggery.American Economic Review 68: 437–445.
Ostrom, E. (1990).Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Popovsky, L.S. (1990). The crisis over tonnage and poundage in parliament in 1629.Past and Present 126: 44–75.
Rabb, T.K. (1967).Enterprise and Empire: Merchant and gentry investment in the expansion of England, 1575–1630. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Ritchie, R. (1986).Captain Kidd and the war against the pirates. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Roscoe, E.S. (1924).A history of the English Prize Court. London: Lloyd's.
Sandler, T., Enders, W. and Lapan, H. (1991). Economic analysis can help fight international terrorism.Challenge 34: 10–17.
Sandler, T. and Sterbenz, F.P. (1990). Harvest uncertainty and the tragedy of the commons.Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 18: 155–167.
Sandmo, A. (1971). On the theory of the competitive firm under price uncertainty.American Economic Review 61: 65–73.
Scott, A.D. (1955). The fishery: The objective of sole ownership.Journal of Political Economy 63: 116–124.
Supple, B.E. (1964).Commercial crisis and change in England, 1600–1642. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Conybeare, J.A.C., Sandler, T. State-sponsored violence as a tragedy of the commons: England's privateering wars with France and Spain, 1625–1630. Public Choice 77, 879–897 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01048000
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01048000