Essays on labor supply and stock effect in fisheries

Abstract

<p>This dissertation studies labor supply and stock effect in fisheries. Do people work more hours when paid a higher wage? The answer to this question has both micro (designing efficient workplaces) and macro (designing tax schedules) consequences. The occupation of fishermen provides a unique ground to test competing labor supply theories as fishermen have autonomy over the number of hours worked. Here the focus is on the commercial fishermen from the Alaskan halibut fishery. Chapter 2 summarizes the stylized facts of the fishery using detailed trip level data on catch, location, and target, among other things. The theoretical models of labor supply are introduced in chapter 3, and the wage elasticity of labor supply of commercial fishermen is estimated using the Poisson regression model. The results provide compelling evidence of nonlinear income targeting behavior among the fishermen. The policy implication is that financial motivation or providing higher wages will not always result in longer hours supplied from workers. Chapter 4 investigates the relationship between the cost of fishing and stock abundance, which is known as the stock effect. The estimation of the stock effect is essential for maximizing economic yield from fisheries. However, the estimation is complicated as the stock abundance is unobserved. The location and time-specific predicted values from the generalized linear model of catch per skate (chapter 1) is used as the proxy variable for the unobserved stock in this chapter. Then the parameters of the cost function with optimal location and extraction condition are estimated using the generalized method of moments methodology. The estimation of the stock effect will allow fishery managers to implement the total allowable catch from maximum economic yield, which will result in higher stock abundance than the present regime. The last chapter concludes and notes future research topics.</p>