Dynamic modeling in renewable resource exploitation

This chapter reviews some fundamental models related to the exploitation of a renewable resource, an important topic when dealing with regional economics. The chapter starts by considering the growth models of an unexploited population and then introduces commercial harvesting. Still maintaining a dynamic perspective, an analysis of equilibrium situations is proposed for a natural resource under various market structures (monopoly, oligopoly and open access). The essential dynamic properties of these models are explained, as well as their main economic insights. Moreover, some key assumptions and tools of intertemporal optimal harvesting are recalled, thus providing an interesting application of the theory of optimal growth.