LSAT (Law School Admission Test)Reading ComprehensionMedium
Passage: "The 'Tragedy of the Anticommons,' a concept developed by legal scholar Michael Heller, describes a situation where an excessive number of property rights holders, each with the power to exclude others from using a resource, leads to underutilization or even complete stagnation of that resource. Unlike the 'tragedy of the commons,' where too many people have access and deplete a shared resource, the anticommons problem arises from too many owners blocking the use of a resource. Examples include vacant storefronts in a bustling commercial district where multiple landlords each hold a veto power over a new tenant, or fragmented patent rights over a crucial technology, where no single entity can commercialize it without negotiating with numerous rights holders. The core issue is the high transaction costs and coordination failures inherent in assembling all necessary permissions." Based on the passage, a key difference between the 'tragedy of the commons' and the 'tragedy of the anticommons' is the:
- AGeographical scale at which the problem occurs.
- BNature of the property rights leading to the problem.
- CNumber of individuals benefiting from the resource.
- DType of resource being managed (natural vs. intellectual).
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Nature of the property rights leading to the problem.
The passage explicitly states: 'Unlike the 'tragedy of the commons,' where too many people have access and deplete a shared resource, the anticommons problem arises from too many owners blocking the use of a resource.' This directly highlights that the nature of property rights (shared access vs. blocking by multiple owners) is the key differentiator.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. The passage does not discuss geographical scale as a differentiating factor.
- C. The passage doesn't focus on the number of beneficiaries as the key difference.
- D. While examples mention different types, the core distinction given is about property rights, not resource type.
Identifying Differences
Pinpointing the specific ways in which two or more concepts, arguments, or phenomena presented in a passage diverge.
- Look for explicit comparisons or contrasts using words like 'unlike,' 'whereas,' 'in contrast to.'
- Focus on the core characteristics or mechanisms that distinguish them.
- Avoid superficial differences or details not emphasized by the author.
Memory trick: Find the Gap, The Key Disparity.