Games and Resources

Abstract

This article presents a sequence of simple and related models to analyze the strategic use of natural resources. Game theory is the natural tool for such an analysis, whether the resource is private or publicly owned, whether it is renewable or exhaustible, whether the game is static or dynamic, and whether or not the users can strategically invest in technologies. Equilibrium extraction is too large and comes too early for public resources, but the opposite is true for private resources. The effects add up nicely when the resource has both private and public-good aspects.