Renewable resource management, user heterogeneity, and the scope for cooperation

K. Erdlenbruch (1) , M. Tidball (2) , D. van Soest (3)

1 Division of Enzyme Chemistry
2 LAMETA - Laboratoire Montpelliérain d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée
3 Department of Economics

Cooperation can increase the efficiency of commonlyowned renewable resource use. However, received knowledge is that, absent side payments, cooperative solutions are more difficult to achieve the less homogenous the agents involved. We revisit this claim by analyzing how differences in the opportunity costs of resource harvesting affect the scope for Paretoimproving contracts, where contracting is with respect to the type of technology used. We find that the scope for cooperation is largest for intermediate levels of heterogeneity.

Mots clés: CONTRAT; RESSOURCE RENOUVELABLE; ANALYSE ECONOMIQUE; COOPERATION; SHARE RESOURCE USE; DYNAMIC GAME; CONTRACTS; HETEROGENOUS AGENTS

Domaines: Ecologie, Environnement; Environnement et Société; Biodiversité et Ecologie

K. Erdlenbruch, M. Tidball, D. van Soest. Renewable resource management, user heterogeneity, and the scope for cooperation. Ecological Economics, 2008, 64 (3), p. 597 - p. 602. ⟨10.1016/j.ecolecon.2007.04.004⟩. ⟨hal-00453888⟩