This paper systematically sorts out the four development models of the commons theory - the tragedy of the commons, the tragedy of the anti-commons, the tragedy of the semi-commons and the comedy of the commons, and explores the evolution of public resources under different governance models and their practical. The tragedy of the commons originates from the excessive consumption of resources caused by non-exclusivity and non-competitiveness, individual rationality and collective interests leading to potential conflict; the tragedy of the anti-commons is caused by the fragmentation of property rights, which manifests itself as institutional inefficiency and collective inaction; the tragedy of the semi-commons is caused by the coexistence of the tragedy of the anti-commons and the tragedy of the commons due to the mixed property rights; the comedy of the commons relies on community autonomy and institutional design to achieve sustainable governance. The study points out that the governance of the commons needs to go beyond the "Leviathan-privatization" dichotomy, and the study aims to provide diversified solutions for public resource management and global public domain governance by exploring the development of the commons.

Keywords: Commons, the Tragedy of the Commons, the Tragedy of Anti-Commons, the Tragedy of Semi-Commons, the Comedy of the Commons

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Conflicts of Interest:

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to report regarding the present study.

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The Four Models of Commons--the Tragedy of the Commons, the Tragedy of the Anti-Commons, the Tragedy of the Semi-Commons and the Comedy of the Commons