International Trade between Consumer and Conservationist Countries

M. Scott Taylor, University of Calgary
James A. Brander

Abstract

We consider trade between a Consumer country with an open access renewable resource and a Conservationist country that regulates resource harvesting to maximize domestic steady-state utility. In what we call the mild overuse case, the consumer country exports the resource good and suffers steady-state losses from trade, as suggested by the conventional wisdom that weak resource management standards confer a comparative advantage on domestic firms in the resource sector but cause welfare losses. Strikingly, however, when the resource stock is most in jeopardy, the conservationist country exports the resource good in steady state and both countries gain from trade.