Abstract
We present an intuitive, time-efficient common pool resource game set in a flexible framework that illustrates collective-action conflicts. The game's interactions demonstrate that not all economic markets yield privately or socially efficient results. Students own tracts of land with access to oil. In the first (optional) stage, students manage the resource rights; in the second stage they make resource extraction decisions. Students' understanding of markets deepens via the conflicts from interdependency versus incentives in common resource allocation. Economic issues addressed include collective action, contracting problems, game theory and externalities.
Recommended Citation
(2026)
"Common Resource Bargaining: A Collective-action Game,"
Journal of Economics and Finance Education: Vol. 15:
Iss.
1, Article 8.
Available at:
https://scholarship.rollins.edu/jefe/vol15/iss1/8
