Common-Pool Resource Depletion and Dictatorship

This article seeks to explain the dynamics of resource depletion in North Korea’s fishery. We utilize insights from common-pool (CPR) literature and show how theories comparative politics that why states sometimes do not formalize property rights but prefer their informal exercise can be fruitfully applied Utilizing a process tracing methodology, we demonstrate Korean state possesses necessary capacity limit depletion, has largely failed so. argue broad access commons maintains relations enmeshed dependence between dictator those utilizing fishery, balancing regime social control concerns with party-state’s need for revenue. Further, recent times, foreign actors have been allowed into sector, providing lucrative source revenue without creating issues internal control. consider alternative explanation lacks prevent CPR its implausibility given preponderance available evidence, least response Pyongyang COVID-19 pandemic, where it demonstrated considerable country’s fishing fleet.