Is free trade good for renewable resources? Brander and Taylor redux

Abstract

This paper generalizes the original Brander and Taylor model of open‐access renewable resource use and trade to address three common critiques. First, I introduce heterogeneity across agents in harvesting productivity to smooth out the model's extreme specialization patterns while maintaining its Ricardian structure and tractability. Second, I move beyond the original assumption of open access by constructing a policy stringency function allowing for partial, first‐best, and endogenous resource policy. Third, by exploiting the smooth substitution possibilities generated by agent heterogeneity and the insight that policy stringency functions are likely to vary across countries, I show how the model's core predictions can be evaluated using empirical methods related to those in growth econometrics.