Resource Rent and Convenience Yield of Mineral Energy Resources

Mineral energy resources are state-owned common property resources in China, while the licensed mining rights witness the transition of mineral energy resources from common property goods to private goods from the economic perspective. However, this process should take in account the usually overlooked or underestimated transfer of underlying monopoly rent formed by the monopoly supply and the consequent scarcity rent formed by the increasing excessive demand because mineral energy resources are non-renewable and exhaustible. This paper re-examines the resource rent of mineral energy resources based on the nature of goods, and argues the monopoly rent and scarcity rent are quasi-rents and will elicit the potential convenience yield in mineral energy resource products. Therefore, it proposes to levy the excessive progressive ad valorem mining royalities or mining taxation upon their convenience yields, and revaluate the corporations of mineral energy resources to ensure the fair distribution of mineral wealth to the national government as the resource property owner.