Renewable resource use with imperfect self-control

Arbeitspapier

We investigate renewable resources when the harvesting agents face self-control problems. Individuals are conceptualized as dual selves. The rational long-run self plans for the infinite future while the affective short-run self desires to maximize instantaneous profits. Depending on the degree of self-control, actual behavior is partly driven by short-run desires. This modeling represents impatience and present bias without causing time inconsistent decision making. In a model of a single harvesting agent (e.g. a fishery), we discuss how self-control problems affect harvesting behavior, resource conservation, and sustainability and discuss policies to curb overuse and potential collapse of the resource due to present-biased harvesting behavior. We then extend the model to several harvesting agents and show how limited self-control exacerbates the common pool problem. Finally, we investigate heterogenous agents and show that there are spillover effects of limited self-control in the sense that perfectly rational agents also behave less conservatively when they interact with agents afflicted by imperfect self-control.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: cege Discussion Papers ; No. 408

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Welfare Economics: General ; Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: General‡ ; Renewable Resources and Conservation: General ; Environmental Economics: General ; Environmental Economics: Government Policy ; Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity: General
• Subject: self-control ; temptation ; renewable resource use ; sustainability ; common pool resource management

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Strulik, Holger ; Werner, Katharina
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): University of Göttingen, Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research (cege)
• (where): Göttingen
• (when): 2020

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/225491
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET