Mathematical analysis is key to the modeling and management of natural resources. By presenting required mathematical methods, classic dynamic models for non-renewable and renewable resources, and by exploring several contemporary problems, this text provides a foundation for advanced research. Topics include seminal models in fishery, forestry and non-renewable resource management, as well as an extensive collection of contemporary applications that include the optimal transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, the optimal timing of interventions to save endangered species, pest control and the optimal management of antibiotic resistance. Deterministic and stochastic models in both discrete and continuous time are covered. The book encourages students to pursue a deeper understanding of the analytics of resource problems and to deploy numerical methods when analytical results prove intractable. The combination of analysis, theory and applications will launch the next generation of resource economists, while serving as a useful reference for established researchers.

Presents models of renewable and non-renewable resources and provides analytical methods to explore contemporary resource problems.

Preface An Overview of the Book 1. Visions of the Future 2. The Economic Approach: Property Rights, Externalities, and Environmental Problems 3. Evaluating Trade-Offs: Benefit-Cost Analysis and Other Decision-Making Metrics 4. Valuing the Environment: Methods 5. Dynamic Efficiency and Sustainable Development 6. Depletable Resource Allocation: The Role of Longer Time Horizons, Substitutes, and Extraction Cost 7. Energy: The Transition from Depletable to Renewable Resources 8. Recyclable Resources: Minerals, Paper, Bottles, and E-Waste 9. Water: A Confluence of Renewable and Depletable Resources 10. A Locationally Fixed, Multipurpose Resource: Land 11. Storable, Renewable Resources: Forests 12. Common-Pool Resources: Commercially Valuable Fisheries 13. Ecosystem Goods and Services: Nature’s Threatened Bounty 14. The Quest for Sustainable Development 15. Visions of the Future Revisited Answers to Self-Test Exercises Glossary Index