Question

Yakov, Charles, and Gilberto are crabbers who live next to a ocean that is open to crabbing; in other words, anyone is free to use the ocean for crabbing. Assume that these men are the only three crabbers who crab fish in this ocean and that the ocean is large enough for all three crabbers to crab fish intensively at the same time.

Each year, the crabbers choose independently how many crabs to catch; specifically, they choose whether to crab fish intensively (that is, to place several crab traps in the water for long stretches of time, which hurts the sustainability of the ocean if enough people do it) or to crab fish nonintensively (which does not hurt the sustainability of the ocean). None of them has the ability to control how much the others crab fish, and each crabber cares only about his own profitability and not about the state of the ocean.

Assume that as long as no more than one crabber crab fishes intensively, there are enough crabs to restock the ocean. However, if two or more crab fish intensively, the ocean will become useless in the future. Of course, crabbing intensively earns a crabber more money and greater profit because he can sell more crabs.

The ocean is an example of _____ because the crabs in the ocean are _____ and ______

Depending on whether Charles and Gilberto both choose to crab fish either nonintensively or intensively, ful in Yakov's profit-maximizing response in the following table, given Charies and Gilberto's actions.
Charies and Gilberto's actions.
crab fish nonintesively crab fish intensively
takov's profit-max respnse _________ ___________

Which of the following solutions could encure that the ocean is sustainable in the long nun, assuming that the regulation is enforceable? Check all that apply
a. Convert the ocean to private property, and allow the owner to sell crabbing rights.
b. Outlaw intensive crabbing.
c. Develop a program that entices more crabbers to move to the area.

Answer 1

The ocean represents a 'Tragedy of the Commons,' where overuse by individuals threatens a common resource's sustainability. Solutions like privatizing the ocean or outlawing intensive crabbing can prevent depletion. Yakov's choices depend on the others' actions for profit maximization and sustainability.

Step-by-step explanation:

The scenario described in the question is an example of what ecologists and economists refer to as the Tragedy of the Commons, where individuals have no incentive to refrain from overusing a common resource, leading to its depletion. If Yakov, Charles, and Gilberto all choose to crab fish intensively, the ocean's sustainability is at risk. Hence, Yakov's profit-maximizing response would depend on the actions of the other two crabbers. If both crab fish nonintensively, Yakov may choose to crab fish intensively since it is profitable and does not immediately threaten the sustainability of the ocean. However, if the others crab fish intensively, Yakov should crab fish nonintensively to avoid depleting the resource.

To ensure the long-term sustainability of the ocean, several solutions can be enforced:

• Convert the ocean to private property, allowing the owner to sell crabbing rights.
• Outlaw intensive crabbing to prevent damage to the ocean's sustainability.

These solutions are mechanisms that economists recommend to prevent the overharvesting of marine life, similar to fishing licenses, harvest limits, and catch shares.