The Double Curse of a Common Property Productive Asset Oligopoly

We build a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium of a common property productive asset oligopoly. We derive two surprising results. First, the steady state level of asset can be a decreasing function of the asset’s implicit growth rate. This phenomenon arises when the initial stock of asset is below a certain threshold. It represents a double curse for a common property productive asset where the well-known tragedy of the commons due to a lack of property rights is exacerbated by an increase in the productivity of the asset. Second, we show that a reduction in the number of firms exploiting the asset can, in the short run, result in an increase of the industry’s exploitation and a decrease of the level of the asset’s stock.