Renewable Resource Extraction: Experimental Analysis of Resource Management Policies Under Assumptions of Resource Migration
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Description
This paper uses a spatially explicit and dynamic common pool resource experiment to compare renewable resource extraction behavior between four treatments varying (1) open-access and sole ownership institutions and (2) mobility of the renewable resource. The primary purpose is to test the hypothesis that introducing resource mobility into a sole ownership regime will cause subjects to follow a myopic strategy rather than the maximizing strategy of a sole owner. I also test the hypothesis that open-access firms are indifferent to resource dispersal. The results show that efficiency is unaffected by dispersal but the behavior of sole owners differs between dispersal conditions. Extraction requests increase at a faster rate under dispersal, fewer tokens remain un-extracted, and some subjects show strategic behavior resulting in greater than 100% efficiency. This is a pilot study that presents preliminary evidence of a behavioral change. The results are subject to experimental factors such as subject misperceptions of linearity and statistical significance suffers from a small subject pool.
Renewable Resource Extraction: Experimental Analysis of Resource Management Policies Under Assumptions of Resource Migration
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This paper uses a spatially explicit and dynamic common pool resource experiment to compare renewable resource extraction behavior between four treatments varying (1) open-access and sole ownership institutions and (2) mobility of the renewable resource. The primary purpose is to test the hypothesis that introducing resource mobility into a sole ownership regime will cause subjects to follow a myopic strategy rather than the maximizing strategy of a sole owner. I also test the hypothesis that open-access firms are indifferent to resource dispersal. The results show that efficiency is unaffected by dispersal but the behavior of sole owners differs between dispersal conditions. Extraction requests increase at a faster rate under dispersal, fewer tokens remain un-extracted, and some subjects show strategic behavior resulting in greater than 100% efficiency. This is a pilot study that presents preliminary evidence of a behavioral change. The results are subject to experimental factors such as subject misperceptions of linearity and statistical significance suffers from a small subject pool.