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

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."