Economic exploitation of non-renewable resources in a centrally planned economy: an investigation of the use of natural resources in the USSR

Thesis/Dissertation · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:6622336

McKinney, J A.R.

The time pattern of extraction and consumption chosen in the centrally-planned Soviet economy is the result of decisions made at many levels of the economic hierarchy in response to a variety of signals. In this dissertation, the conditions for the optimal exploitation of nonrenewable resources first derived in Harol Hotelling's classic article are used as a standard against which to judge Soviet practices. The familiar Western theory is adapted to describe the decision-making process in the Soviet extractive branches in order to investigate the hypothesis that a number of features of the Soviet economy are likely to lead to a sub-optimal time pattern of extraction from the country's mineral endowment. The consequences of Soviet policies for the depth of extraction and the volume and allocation of exploration activity are also examined. Although the analysis yields no definite conclusions about the net effect of Soviet resource policies and practices on the time pattern of extraction, there are nonetheless strong reasons for believing that the Soviets have not carried out sufficient conservation. In addition, they appear not to have used their mineral deposits sufficiently intensively, nor to have carried out the right kinds of exploration.

• OSTI ID: 6622336
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
290400* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Energy Resources
ASIA
CENTRALLY PLANNED ECONOMIES
EASTERN EUROPE
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
EUROPE
MINERAL RESOURCES
RESOURCE DEPLETION
RESOURCES
USSR