Risk management in gathering economies

Denise Stanley

Journal of Development Studies, 2007, vol. 43, issue 6, 1009-1036

Abstract: This article extends the literature on the interplay of environmental risk and welfare into the setting of coastal fisheries gathering. It reviews the sources of covariate and idiosyncratic production risk creating income shocks to gatherers and discusses the institutions that best mediate shocks across different settings. We rely upon a principal-agent framework between larva-gathering agents employed by boat-owning principals who supply seed to shrimp farms. Two datasets from a Central American fishery are used to test the hypotheses concerning contractual performance across environments. Which contract provides the highest mean income (and variation) depends upon the underlying production catch data. In the farm production records dataset with strong catch trends, a simplified relative payments contract would perform better in reducing income risk in locations of stronger covariate shocks, but at the price of significantly lower mean earnings for gatherers. In areas of idiosyncratic shocks, such as localised water pollution, piece-rate contracts would perform better. Objective risk exposure to gatherers was lower under relative payments, supporting the hypotheses. Actual results in the Honduran case were conditioned by imperfect labour markets and the substitutability of hatchery larva.

Date: 2007
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220380701466492 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:43:y:2007:i:6:p:1009-1036

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/FJDS20

DOI: 10.1080/00220380701466492

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Development Studies is currently edited by Howard White, Oliver Morrissey and Ken Shadlen

More articles in Journal of Development Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().