RENEWABLE RESOURCE USE - TRANSITION FROM CAPTURE TO ALLOCATION AND OPTIMAL STOCK RECOVERY

Unlimited access and capture is the best allocation policy for any res ource as long as there are no crowding externalities and the harvest r ate does not exceed the regeneration rate. If harvest consistently ove rtakes growth, unlimited capture should no longer be permitted. Withou t a new institutional arrangement, individuals with access to a common pool resource may ignore the opportunity costs of their action. This practice has in fact caused many resource stocks to fall below the sus tainable minimum levels. Because the transition to an efficient alloca tion mechanism was poorly designed (or missing) or because of the lack of communication with the affected parties, transitional economic and political issues have delayed and raised the cost of the needed insti tutional change, and in some cases thwarted the change entirely. Altho ugh transition issues have often frustrated the efforts to adopt effic ient institutions, previous studies have devoted little attention to o ptimal stock recovery and transition issues. This study develops a mod el of optimal harvest path for stock recovery, explores implementation issues, and suggests ways to address typical equity and efficiency co ncerns in a transition process. (C) 1995 Academic Press Limited