This paper focuses on the interactions between local communities having at least some degree of informal claims over natural resources and external agents, particularly firms interested in commercial resource exploitation. The paper makes three contributions to the existing literature. First,...

This paper analyzes the impact of trade on resource stocks through endogenously selected property rights regimes. We present a model that shows welfare can be maximized when a community degrades its resource stock under optimally selected property rights regimes after opening to trade. Results...