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Variable unit costs in an output-regulated industry: The Fishery

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  • Per Sandberg

Abstract

Departing from general cost theory of the firm and bioeconomic theory of the fishery, this study contributes with an empirical examination of how variable unit costs in a Norwegian demersal and pelagic fishery depend on output and the fish stock. The identification of the separate effects that the two factors have on costs is not common in the literature. Three Norwegian fleets fishing Norwegian spring spawning herring (Clupea Harengus) and five Norwegian fleets fishing Northeast Arctic cod (Gadus Morhua) are evaluated. The findings indicate that variable unit costs fall in output in both fisheries. The results also show that variable unit costs fall in fish stock in the demersal fishery, but with a stock elasticity of variable unit costs in absolute terms significantly less than 1. These results are of relevance to a manager seeking the optimal harvest rule and to understand fishermen's incentives when individual vessel quotas are reduced.

Suggested Citation

  • Per Sandberg, 2006. "Variable unit costs in an output-regulated industry: The Fishery," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(9), pages 1007-1018.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:38:y:2006:i:9:p:1007-1018
    DOI: 10.1080/00036840500405912
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    4. James E. Kirkley & Dale Squires & Ivar E. Strand, 1995. "Assessing Technical Efficiency in Commercial Fisheries: The Mid-Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 77(3), pages 686-697.
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    6. H. Scott Gordon, 1954. "The Economic Theory of a Common-Property Resource: The Fishery," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62, pages 124-124.
    7. H. Scott Gordon, 1954. "The Economic Theory of a Common-Property Resource: The Fishery," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Chennat Gopalakrishnan (ed.), Classic Papers in Natural Resource Economics, chapter 9, pages 178-203, Palgrave Macmillan.
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    3. Stein Ivar Steinshamn, 2017. "Predators in the market: implications of market interaction on optimal resource management," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 327-341, October.
    4. Håkan Eggert & Ragnar Tveterås, 2013. "Productivity development in Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish fisheries," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(6), pages 709-720, February.
    5. Thanh Viet Nguyen & Lars Ravn-Jonsen & Niels Vestergaard, 2016. "Marginal Damage Cost of Nutrient Enrichment: The Case of the Baltic Sea," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 64(1), pages 109-129, May.
    6. Andries Richter & Anne Maria Eikeset & Daan Soest & Florian Klaus Diekert & Nils Chr. Stenseth, 2018. "Optimal Management Under Institutional Constraints: Determining a Total Allowable Catch for Different Fleet Segments in the Northeast Arctic Cod Fishery," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 69(4), pages 811-835, April.

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