IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-04207035.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Too many or too few? On the optimal number of firms in the commons

Author

Listed:
  • Luca Colombo

    (ESC [Rennes] - ESC Rennes School of Business)

  • Paola Labrecciosa

    (ESSCA - ESSCA – École supérieure des sciences commerciales d'Angers = ESSCA Business School)

  • Leo Simon

    (UC Berkeley - University of California [Berkeley] - UC - University of California, ESSCA - ESSCA – École supérieure des sciences commerciales d'Angers = ESSCA Business School)

Abstract

In this paper, we consider common-pool non-renewable resource industries and study the socially optimal industry size. Our analysis is conducted in terms of an infinite-horizon differential game (with either open-loop or feedback strategies). We derive two main results. First, we show that there exists a unique state-independent efficiency-inducing industry size, ranging between 1 and infinity, if and only if the elasticity of the price-cost margin (capturing static market power) and the elasticity of the difference between social and private resource rents (capturing the tragedy of the commons) are the same. Second, allowing for entry/exit, we show that the regulator can set a license fee to be paid by firms to get access to the resource such that the endogenous number of firms in the equilibrium with regulated entry is socially optimal.

Suggested Citation

  • Luca Colombo & Paola Labrecciosa & Leo Simon, 2023. "Too many or too few? On the optimal number of firms in the commons," Post-Print hal-04207035, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04207035
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2023.102825
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:bla:econom:v:53:y:1986:i:212:p:519-27 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Charles F. Mason & Stephen Polasky, 1997. "The Optimal Number of Firms in the Commons: A Dynamic Approach," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 30(4), pages 1143-1160, November.
    3. van der Ploeg, Frederick, 2020. "Race to burn the last ton of carbon and the risk of stranded assets," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    4. Karp, Larry, 1992. "Social Welfare in a Common Property Oligopoly," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 33(2), pages 353-372, May.
    5. Charles Mason & Stephen Polasky, 2002. "Strategic Preemption in a Common Property Resource: A Continuous Time Approach," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 23(3), pages 255-278, November.
    6. Reinganum, Jennifer F & Stokey, Nancy L, 1985. "Oligopoly Extraction of a Common Property Natural Resource: The Importance of the Period of Commitment in Dynamic Games," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 26(1), pages 161-173, February.
    7. David Levhari & Leonard J. Mirman, 1980. "The Great Fish War: An Example Using a Dynamic Cournot-Nash Solution," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 11(1), pages 322-334, Spring.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ligon, Ethan & Narain, Urvashi, 1999. "Government Management of Village Commons: Comparing Two Forest Policies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 272-289, May.
    2. Karp, Larry, 1992. "Efficiency Inducing Tax for a Common Property Oligopoly," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 102(411), pages 321-332, March.
    3. Colombo, Luca & Labrecciosa, Paola, 2018. "Consumer surplus-enhancing cooperation in a natural resource oligopoly," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 185-193.
    4. Croutzet, Alexandre & Lasserre, Pierre, 2017. "Optimal completeness of property rights on renewable resources in the presence of market power," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 16-32.
    5. Charles Mason & Stephen Polasky, 2002. "Strategic Preemption in a Common Property Resource: A Continuous Time Approach," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 23(3), pages 255-278, November.
    6. Datta, Manjira & Mirman, Leonard J., 1999. "Externalities, Market Power, and Resource Extraction," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 233-255, May.
    7. Basak Bayramoglu, 2006. "Transboundary Pollution in the Black Sea: Comparison of Institutional Arrangements," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 35(4), pages 289-325, December.
    8. Charles F. Mason & Victoria I. Umanskaya & Edward B. Barbier, 2018. "Trade, Transboundary Pollution, and Foreign Lobbying," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 70(1), pages 223-248, May.
    9. Colombo, Luca & Labrecciosa, Paola, 2019. "Stackelberg versus Cournot: A differential game approach," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 239-261.
    10. Tasneem, Dina & Engle-Warnick, Jim & Benchekroun, Hassan, 2017. "An experimental study of a common property renewable resource game in continuous time," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 91-119.
    11. Colombo, Luca & Labrecciosa, Paola, 2015. "On the Markovian efficiency of Bertrand and Cournot equilibria," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 332-358.
    12. Tarui, Nori & Mason, Charles F. & Polasky, Stephen & Ellis, Greg, 2008. "Cooperation in the commons with unobservable actions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 37-51, January.
    13. Dragone Davide & Lambertini Luca & Palestini Arsen & Tampieri Alessandro, 2013. "On the Optimal Number of Firms in the Commons: Cournot vs Bertrand," Mathematical Economics Letters, De Gruyter, vol. 1(1), pages 25-34, October.
    14. Charles Morcom & Michael Kremer, 2000. "Elephants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 212-234, March.
      • Michael Kremer & Charles Morcom, 1996. "Elephants," NBER Working Papers 5674, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Kremer, M. & Morcom, C., 1996. "Elephants," Working papers 96-17, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
    15. Akhil Rao & Giacomo Rondina, 2025. "The Economics of Orbit Use: Open Access, External Costs, and Runaway Debris Growth," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(2), pages 353-388.
    16. Espínola-Arredondo, Ana & Muñoz-García, Félix, 2011. "Can incomplete information lead to under-exploitation in the commons?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 402-413.
    17. Frederick Ploeg, 2011. "Rapacious Resource Depletion, Excessive Investment and Insecure Property Rights: A Puzzle," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 48(1), pages 105-128, January.
    18. Jakša Cvitanić & George Georgiadis, 2016. "Achieving Efficiency in Dynamic Contribution Games," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 309-342, November.
    19. Colombo, Luca & Labrecciosa, Paola, 2022. "Product quality differentiation in a renewable resource oligopoly," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    20. Benchekroun, Hassan & Gaudet, Gérard, 2015. "On the effects of mergers on equilibrium outcomes in a common property renewable asset oligopoly," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 209-223.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C73 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Stochastic and Dynamic Games; Evolutionary Games
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • Q30 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04207035. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.