Publication: Cooperative Game Theory and its Application to Natural, Environmental, and Water Resource Issues : 2. Application to Natural and Environmental Resources
Loading...
Date
2006-11
ISSN
Published
2006-11
Author(s)
Abstract
This paper provides a review of various applications of cooperative game theory (CGT) to issues of natural and environmental resources. With an increase in the level of competition over environmental and natural resources, the incidents of disputes have been at the center of allocation agreements. The paper reviews the cases of common pool resources such as fisheries and forests, and cases of environmental pollution such as acid rain, flow, and stock pollution. In addition to providing examples of cooperative solutions to allocation problems, the conclusion from this review suggests that cooperation over scarce environmental and natural resources is possible under a variety of physical conditions and institutional arrangements. CGT applications to international fishery disputes are especially useful in that they have been making headway in policy-related agreements among states and regions of the world. Forest applications are more local in nature, but of great relevance in solving disputes among communities and various levels of governments.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Zara, Stefano; Dinar, Ariel; Patrone, Fioravante. 2006. Cooperative Game Theory and its Application to Natural, Environmental, and Water Resource Issues : 2. Application to Natural and Environmental Resources. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 4073. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8850 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication GDP-Employment Elasticities across Developing Economies(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-12-03)Economic growth is often associated with welfare gains through job creation. However, the number and quality of new job opportunities created in a growing economy vary across countries and sectors, due in great part to changes in labor productivity. This paper provides estimates of country and sector-specific GDP-employment elasticities based on data from the past two decades, including an evaluation of the predictive power among alternative methodological approaches. The results show that employment elasticities of growth vary significantly across countries and sectors, but are in most cases below 1.0, implying that employment grows less than GDP due to increasing productivity. Across sectors, agriculture has mostly lower elasticity values, becoming negative for more than one-third of developing countries. In addition, increases in labor productivity are associated with reductions in informal employment. These empirical results are in line with the implications of a theoretical model about the relationship between GDP growth, job creation, and labor productivity in economies with varying levels of productivity and informality.Publication Yield Growth Patterns of Food Commodities(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-12-03)Understanding global food production and productivity patterns is crucial for policy and in-vestment decisions aimed at addressing poverty, food insecurity, and climate change. This paper develops comprehensive calorific-based production and yield indexes for 144 crops, covering 98 percent of global agricultural land and food output. These indexes provide standardized measures across various crops and varieties, facilitating comparison of agricultural productivity and consolidating country and regional contributions to global food production. Utilizing a Box-Cox transformation, the analysis finds that a linear model best approximates yield growth. The findings reveal that, at an aggregate level, there has been no discernable slowdown in global yield growth over the past six decades. This translates into an average annual yield increase equivalent to nearly 33 kilograms of wheat per hectare. These results suggest that any observed deceleration in specific commodities, regions, or countries has been offset by gains in others. While these findings are reassuring from a global food supply perspective, caution is warranted about the sustainability of production and the affordability of food. These concerns are particularly relevant as global food demand increases due to population and income growth, and as the pressures from climate change intensify. The study underscores the importance of adopting strategic and sustainable agricultural practices to ensure continued food security in the face of evolving global challenges.Publication The Only Way Is Up?(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-12-03)This study documents short-term economic mobility in Malaysia over the first two decades of the twenty-first century, at the population level and for various subgroups. The findings show broad and steady improvements in well-being, as evidenced by large decreases in chronic poverty and significant increases in persistent economic security. The study employs a synthetic panel approach based on nationally representative micro-level data for 2004–22, with a refinement that allows presenting bootstrap point estimates and standard deviations. In addition, the study investigates several poverty and vulnerability scenarios, as well as relative mobility. First, the results indicate that chronic poverty has decreased to 2–3 percent of the population. Nevertheless, progress is not uniform: around 15 percent of the population in rural East Malaysia lives in chronic poverty. Second, the study finds considerable increases in sustained economic security—the extent of improvement, however, depends on the approach and income thresholds that are used to define security. Moreover, ethnic and regional differences in secure status are sizable at higher income class thresholds. The largest differences are of a regional dimension: an individual in urban Peninsular Malaysia is more than three times more likely to live in economic security than someone in rural East Malaysia. Altogether, the study observes upward movement across the board but little evidence of dramatic changes in the relative positions of societal groups.Publication The Potential Cascading Impacts of Climate Change in Cambodia(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-11-26)This paper develops a “plausible worst-case” scenario for Cambodia to illustrate how a severe, 1-in-10-year flood could trigger cascading impacts, including widespread disease outbreaks and financial instability. The analysis shifts from forecasting to risk management, focusing on the economic consequences at each stage of this disaster chain. As climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, Cambodia’s vulnerabilities are likely to intensify, with severe floods leading to disruptions in health care, declines in labor productivity, and risks to financial stability. Although Cambodia’s current financial position provides some resilience, the risk of financial contagion remains, especially due to the growing sovereign-bank nexus. The paper highlights the importance of integrating climate risks into Cambodia’s broader risk management strategies and suggests preemptive interventions, such as improving flood forecasting, health care infrastructure, and exploring disaster risk finance instruments. These measures could help mitigate the cascading impacts of climate-induced disasters and build long-term resilience. The paper concludes that a shift from reactive crisis management to proactive preparedness and adaptation will be crucial for Cambodia’s ability to manage future climate risks and ensure economic and social stability.Publication Global Ripple Effects(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-11-26)The three major players in the global economy, the United States, the European Union, and China, have been designing climate mitigation policies that will help reduce their carbon emissions but will also likely reshape developing countries’ trade, prices, and access to technology. This paper examines developing countries’ exposure to such changes. Overall, the policies are expected to curtail demand for fossil fuels, energy-intensive manufacturing, and agricultural exports linked to environmental degradation. They are also expected to open export opportunities in critical minerals, electric vehicles and their components, and renewable energy technologies and components. The exposure of affected export sectors and the overall economy to these changes will vary across countries based on the orientation of their export sectors to the markets in the European Union, the United States, and Chinese as well as the weight of affected exports in their economies. The climate policies will also likely reduce oil prices and raise critical mineral prices, help reduce the cost of green technologies, and increase green foreign investment. The paper draws recommendations for developing countries, the European Union, the United States, and China, as well as the international community, on how best to help developing countries lessen the potential negative competitiveness effects of these climate policies and make the most of the opportunities for a faster green transition and economic development.