Measuring natural resource scarcity under common property environment and uncertainty: an interpretive analysis
In order to extract and use a natural resource (e.g., coal) the environment (air, water, etc.) must also be used as a repository of the discharged wastes (e.g., sulfur oxides, nitrous oxides, particulates, etc.). Moreover, if there is a mandated level of the environmental resource (e.g., clean air) that has to be maintained, then certain additional costs must be borne by society (firms utilizing the resource). Thus, in evaluating the scarcity of an extractible resource, the relative position of the environmental resource also must be evaluated. This study incorporated such jointness in the evaluation of the measure of resource scarcity, something earlier studies did not address. The theoretical model was developed in an optimal-control framework. It was analytically shown that this new measure of resource scarcity would indicate a different trend compared to earlier ones. The measure of resource scarcity developed in this study captures previous measures as special cases. In an uncertain world, when the impacts of use of an extractible resource on the environment is not known, the stock size of the environmental resource becomes uncertain.
- Research Organization:
- Utah State Univ., Logan (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 7035842
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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