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“The Problem of the Commons: Still Unsettled after 100 Years” by Robert N. Stavins. From the problem of overfishing…. …to climate disruption. Background and Context. Stavins is a recognized expert in environmental and natural resource economics.
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“The Problem of the Commons: Still Unsettled after 100 Years” by Robert N. Stavins From the problem of overfishing… …to climate disruption
Stavins is a recognized expert in environmental and natural resource economics
Stavins situates his article among others seeking to explain problems associated with “the commons”
Stavins wants to make the case for a price on carbon in dealing with climate change
Scarcity plagues renewable resources more than non-renewable ones due to property rights regime Renewable natural resources Non-renewable natural resources
Two forms of externality arise in the case of open-access natural resources
Maximizing net benefits of open-access resource production means scaling back to Ee Economic efficiency: the point where net benefits are greatest, or where the difference between Total Benefits (TB) and Total Costs (TC) is greatest. Equimarginal rule: the efficient level of production, or resource extraction, is where Marginal Benefit (MB) equals Marginal Cost (MC); where the slopes of TB and TC are the same. (Keohane and Olmstead 2007)
Conventional market-based policies can diminish producers’ welfare more than if left unregulated Enclosure and caps/limits Taxes
Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) compel producers toward economically-efficient outcomes, reducing open-access externalities
Effective explanation in terms of resource economics, but missing the social and political