The production, distribution and consumption of goods and services is not a simple task because of the problem of scarcity. Therefore, economists theorize about the ways people go about allocating limited resources of land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship. Because people act in a rational way most of the time, behavior is somewhat predictable. Long ago, about 300 B.C., Greek philosopher Aristotle made some conclusions about property that was owned collectively compared with property that was owned privately. His conclusions explain why your bathroom at home is better cared for than the restrooms at school, why school textbooks have torn and scribbled pages but your personal library is undamaged.
Private ownership encourages owners to better care for their property to ensure continued value.
Also, people experience a sense of pride associated with possessions. Caretaking does not usually accompany common property, whether that property is land or objects. The example he used was the destructive use of publicly owned grazing land. Individuals continued to bring cattle to the public grazing area even though the land was overgrazed, because there was no incentive not to do so. Individual herdsmen incurred no costs regardless of the number of livestock in their herds.