Ressources renouvelables et incertitude sur les préférences des générations futures

The attitude of future generations towards environmental assets may well be different from ours. Even if we are tempted to believe that their sensitivity to environmental matters will be greater than ours, because of environmental depletion, we cannot make sure of that. This paper analyses the consequences of an uncertainty about future preferences in terms of the optimal consumption of a renewable resource in a very simple set-up. Will uncertainty lead to a more conservatice attitude towards the resource? We show that this is the case only when we expect now that future generations will be on average more sensitive than we are to the consumption of the resource. We also show that when we take this uncertainty into account the optimal path of consumption is deeply modified: not only does it become non-continuous but also it can become non-monotonous.