Jens Warming on Open Access, the Pigovian Tax, and Property Rights

This article summarizes the contribution in fisheries economics by the Danish economist Jens Warming. Warming provides an early reference on the problem of open access, precedes Arthur Pigou in suggesting an optimal tax as a correction measure, which I refer to as a Warming landing tax in fisheries, and explains how property rights in fisheries will lead to maximized resource rent and prevent overfishing. What is missing in Warming's description of the problem is the dynamic aspect and that the economics of natural resources should be analyzed in a capital theoretic framework, which was later established in the 1950s by Anthony Scott.