A Differential Game Model for The Extraction of Nonrenewable Resources with Random Initial Times — The Cooperative and Competitive Cases

Abstract

In this work, we propose a model for the extraction of a nonrenewable resource in an economy where, initially, only one agent is enabled to perform extraction tasks. However, at certain nonpredictable (random) times, more companies receive the government’s approval for extracting the country’s resources. We provide a setup suitable for the use of standard dynamic programming results for both, the competitive and cooperative schemes; we develop the corresponding HJB equations, prove a verification theorem, and give an example. Our framework is inspired by the trends that oil industries are experiencing in countries like Mexico and Russia.