Cobweb Dynamics under Bounded Rationality

Price fluctuations under adaptive learning in renewable resource markets such as fisheries are examined. Optimal fishery management with logistic fish population growth implies a backward-bending, discounted supply curve for bioeconomic equilibrium sustained yield. Higher discount rates bend supply backwards more to generate multiple steady state rational expectations equilibria. Under bounded rationality adaptive learning of a linear forecasting rule generates steady state, 2-cycle as well as chaotic consistent expectations equilibria (CEE), which are self-fulfilling in sample average and autocorrelations. The possibility of "learning to believe in chaos" is robust and even enhanced by dynamic noise.