Regime Shifts in Resource Management

Abstract

Resource management has to take account of the possibility of tipping points and regime shifts in ecological systems that provide the resources. This article focuses on the typical model of regime shifts in the ecological literature and analyzes optimal management and common-property issues when trade-offs occur between the loss of ecosystem services and the benefits of the activities that may lead to a regime shift. Regime shifts are uncertain. This article also analyzes optimal management in the case of a potential future regime shift. Research on regime shifts is rapidly developing, and the issue is studied from many different angles. This article is restricted to some standard economic analyses, but in the presence of regime shifts. It focuses on examples like lakes, fisheries, and climate change but provides a framework of analysis that can be used for many environmental issues facing us today.