We show that in poor resource-based communities, the socio-psychological preference for employment, which arises from a strong desire to follow the communal norm of sharing in harvesting efforts, can lead to the optimality of full-employment harvesting until resource extinction. We show that...

Exhaustion of a natural resource stock may be a rational choice for an individual and/or a community, even if a sustainable use for the resource is feasible and the resource users are farsighted and well informed on the ecosystem. We identify conditions under which it is optimal not to sustain...

We assume that people value employment not only to earn income to satisfy their consumption needs but also as a means of community/social involvement that provides socio-psychological (non-pecuniary) benefits. We show that the latter incentive can encourage full employment harvesting resources...