Rethinking the commons problem: Technical change, knowledge spillovers, and social learning

Dale Squires, Niels Vestergaard

    Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningpeer review

    Abstract

    The commons problem is even more severe than standard economic analysis suggests due to accumulated and new technology accompanied by spillovers of nonrival knowledge, creating a second market failure. The resulting endogenous dynamic increasing returns to scale external to producers that create endogenous growth of production lead to ongoing and accelerating rates of natural capital depletion. Optimum and open-access steady-state equilibriums indicated by canonical models may not exist, and corresponding resource stocks vary considerably from conventional wisdom. Market-based solutions alone for the commons problem are insufficient to achieve optimal economic welfare, and require a complementary technology policy for the second market failure and dynamic increasing returns to scale arising from nonrival ideas and knowledge spillovers and social learning. An empirical example illustrates the impact of technological change and accompanying knowledge spillovers and social learning.

    OriginalsprogEngelsk
    TidsskriftJournal of Environmental Economics and Management
    Vol/bind91
    Sider (fra-til)1-25
    ISSN0095-0696
    DOI
    StatusUdgivet - 1. sep. 2018

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