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On the Mitra--Wan Forest Management Problem in Continuous Time

Author

Listed:
  • Silvia Faggian

    (Department of Economics, University Of Venice C� Foscari, Italy)

  • Giorgio Fabbri

    (Departement d'Economie, EPEE, Universite d'Evry-Val-d'Essonne, France.)

  • Giuseppe Freni

    (Department of Business and Economics, University of Naples �Parthenope�, Naples, Italy.)

Abstract
The paper provides a continuous time version of the well known discrete time Mitra-Wan model of optimal forest management, where a forest is harvested to maximize the utility of timber flow over an infinite time horizon. Besides varying with time, the state variable (describing available trees) and the other parameters of the problem vary continuously also with respect to the age of the trees. The evolution of the system is given in terms of a partial differential equation and later rephrased as an ordinary differential equation in an infinite dimensional space. The paper provides a classification of the behavior of optimal and maximal programs when the utility function is linear, convex, or strictly convex and the discount rate is positive or null. Formulas are provided for modified golden-rule configurations (uniform density functions with cutting at the ages that solve a Faustmann problem) and for Faustmann policies, and the optimality or maximality of such programs is discussed. In all different sets of data, it is shown that the optimal (or maximal) control is necessarily something more general than a function, i.e. a positive measure. In particular, in the case of strictly concave utility and null discount, when the Faustmann policy is not optimal, it is shown that optimal paths converges over time to the golden rule configuration, while in the case of strictly concave utility and positive discount the Faustmann policy is shown to be not optimal, contradicting the corresponding result in discrete time.

Suggested Citation

  • Silvia Faggian & Giorgio Fabbri & Giuseppe Freni, 2013. "On the Mitra--Wan Forest Management Problem in Continuous Time," Working Papers 2013:28, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    • Handle: RePEc:ven:wpaper:2013:28
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    Cited by:

    1. Faggian, Silvia & Gozzi, Fausto & Kort, Peter M., 2021. "Optimal investment with vintage capital: Equilibrium distributions," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    2. Giorgio Fabbri & Silvia Faggian & Giuseppe Freni, 2016. "Non-Existence of Optimal Programs in Continuous Time," AMSE Working Papers 1630, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    3. Fabbri, Giorgio & Faggian, Silvia & Freni, Giuseppe, 2017. "Non-existence of optimal programs for undiscounted growth models in continuous time," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 57-61.
    4. Silvia Faggian & Giuseppe Freni, 2015. "A Ricardian Model of Forestry," Working Papers 2015:12, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari", revised 2015.
    5. David Desmarchelier & Alexandre Mayol, 2022. "To seed, or not to seed? An endogenous labor supply approach in a simple overlapping generation economy," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(1), pages 25-38, January.
    6. Galo Nuno & Benjamin Moll, 2018. "Social Optima in Economies with Heterogeneous Agents," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 28, pages 150-180, April.
    7. Khan, M. Ali, 2016. "On a forest as a commodity and on commodification in the discipline of forestry," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 7-17.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Optimal harvesting problems; Forest Management; Measure-valued Control;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
    • C62 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Existence and Stability Conditions of Equilibrium
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General
    • Q23 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Forestry

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