摘要：Increasing human interference with natural systems causes us to re-think our perception of wildlifespecies and the economic choices society makes with regards to their management. Accordingly, wegeneralize existing 'bioeconomic' models by proposing an economically-based classification of species.The theoretical model is applied to the case of African elephant management. We demonstrate that theclassification of the steady state population of a species depends on both species' density and economicfactors. Our main results are threefold. First, we demonstrate the classification-dependent possibilityof multiple equilibria and perverse comparative statics for multi-use species. Second, upon comparingthe optimal stock of a multi-use species to the stock under an open access regime, we find that theranking in terms of abundance is ambiguous. Finally, and consistent with existing literature onresource management in a second-best world, our case study supports the idea that trade measures haveambiguous effects on wildlife abundance under open access.
