Tragedy of the Commons: An Exercise Using Clickers to Illustrate and Teach a Key Concept in Negotiations

Abstract

The concept of “Tragedy of the Commons” is crucial to understanding one of the key dilemmas central to many negotiations. This exercise is a simple but powerful way to experience the concept. The efficacy of using clickers for such an exercise is a new area of exploration. This paper looks at using clickers to play this game which illustrates why it is difficult to be an integrative (or win-win) negotiator and why there is much pressure to “cheat” or become a freeloader.