Quota Enforcement and Capital Investment in Natural Resource Industries

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between quota enforcement, compliance, and capital accumulation in ITQ regulated fisheries. Over-extraction and over-capacity represent two of the main fisheries management challenges, and we aim to model and analyze the two jointly. In a stylized resource model, quota violating and complying firms invest in capital, buy quotas, and choose their harvest. We show that in the short run, more capacity increases illegal extraction, while a well-functioning quota market partially alleviates this effect. We also show how tougher enforcement yields a double benefit by directly improving compliance, and by indirectly reducing incentives to invest in capacity, which improves future compliance. Our analysis thus contributes to the literature on market-based management of renewable resources.