The Role of Royalties in Resource Extraction Contracts
用委托代理模型分析资源开采合同，证明特许权使用费在确定性和不确定性、信息不对称条件下都能实现效率，其定价功能可反映开采对资源剩余价值的影响。
The manner in which governments charge mineral resource producers has been the subject of considerable debate. Income-based charges such as resource rent taxes have been advocated on the theory that royalties and other output-based charges create inefficiency by distorting production decisions. Using a principal-agent approach to resource contracts, separating asset ownership from asset use, we demonstrate that royalties can be efficient under conditions of certainty and also when there is uncertainty and asymmetric information. Royalties serve a key pricing purpose, signaling the marginal impact of extraction on the residual value of reserves and surrounding land or sea. <i></i>