When it Comes to the Sustainability of Marine Resources, Institutions Matter

Found at: https://hdl.handle.net/10535/2736
PDF
Type:	Journal Article
Author:	Morris, Julian
Journal:	The Electronic Journal of Sustainable Development
Volume:	1
Page(s):
Date:	2008
URI:	https://hdl.handle.net/10535/2736
Sector:	Water Resource & Irrigation
Region:
Subject(s):	sustainability marine resources institutions resource management
Abstract:	"Humanity has had a substantial impact on marine resources, especially in the past two hundred years. In the nineteenth century, increased demand for oil (for lighting and lubrication) led to a dramatic expansion of whaling fleets around the world. Competition drove the development of more effective whaling technologies. Under normal circumstances such improvements would bring social benefits. But because the whales were for the most part in an open access commons, whalers were competing to capture the same whales, so the increase in the whaling fleet and increased expenditure on technology led to rising levels of waste, declining total factor productivity--and a decline in the number of whales. Had it not been for the development of substitutes, especially mineral oil, the plight of the whales might have been even worse."

Files in this item

Files	Size	Format	View
When_it_comes_t ... es_Institutions_Matter.pdf	97.71Kb	PDF	View/Open