Alex and Ben Are Both Loggers Wanting to Harvest Timber

question 138

Multiple Choice

Alex and Ben are both loggers wanting to harvest timber from the same forest. Alex prefers to harvest and replant at a sustainable rate; Ben wants to harvest as many trees as possible to maximize short-run profit and then move on. They face the same production costs. If property rights are poorly enforced or nonexistent,

• A) Ben will choose to harvest as quickly as possible, but Alex will choose to harvest more slowly and replant.
• B) both will harvest trees as quickly as possible, before the other one does.
• C) both now have an incentive to harvest and replant in a sustainable manner.
• D) we would expect them to form an agreement on harvesting and replanting.

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Definitions:

Brown-Peterson Task

A cognitive experiment that tests short-term memory's ability to retain dissimilar items over various time intervals.

Short-term Memory

The power to retain minimal information in an active, easily accessible form for a short timeframe.

List Memory

The ability to remember sequences or lists of items, a fundamental aspect of human memory function.

Short-term Memory

A temporary storage system in the brain for holding a small amount of information readily available for a short period of time.