The effect of flexibility in working hours on fertility: A comparative analysis of selected european countries

The main aim of this paper is to measure the extent to which part-time work enhances fertility for married or cohabiting women of fertile age. The study covers eleven European countries. The data used are a pool sample of five waves of the European Community Household Panel. Given that we believe that the decisions concerning fertility and labor market status are taken jointly, we carry out a simultaneous estimation approach. Results suggest that policy makers wishing to implement adequate part-time schedules so as to enhance fertility should look at the part-time schedules available in Belgium, Ireland and The Netherlands, which enhance fertility for women who take advantage of this flexibility measure so as to reconcile family and work.

Phylogeography and non-invasive landscape genetics of the European pine marten ("martes martes" L. 1758) : insights into ancient and contemporary processes shaping genetic variation

283 p. : graf., map.

Fishing effort validation and substitution possibilities among components: the case study of the VIII division European anchovy fishery

Command and control regulation programs, particularly input constraints, typically fail to achieve stated objectives, because fishermen may substitute unregulated for regulated inputs. It is, thus, essential to have an understanding of the internal structure of production technology. A primal formulation is used to estimate a translog production function at the vessels level that includes fishing effort and fisherman’s skill. The flexibility of the selected functional permits the analysis of the substitution possibilities among inputs by estimating the elasticity of substitution with no prior constraints. Particular attention is paid to the empirical validation of fishing effort as an aggregate input, which implies either, the acceptation of the joint hypothesis that inputs making up effort are weakly separable from the inputs out of the subgroup or considering that effort is an intermediate input produced by a non-separable two stage technology. Cross sectional data from the Spanish purse seine fleet operating in the VIII Division European anchovy fishery provide evidence of limited input substitution possibilities among the inputs making up the empirically validated fishing effort translog micro-production function.

Is the Current Regulation of the VIII Division European Anchovy Optimal?

This paper sets out to assess the workability of the regulation currently in force in the European anchovy fishery of the VIII division. Particular attention is paid to the importance of the institutional regime in the allocation of natural resources. The study uses a bio-economic approach and takes into account the fact that, not only the European Union and the individual countries involved, but also some of the resource users or appropriators intervene in its management. In order to compare the effectiveness of the rules which, at the various levels, have been set up to restrict exploitation of the resource, the anchovy fishery is simulated in two extreme situations: open access and sole ownership. The results obtained by effective management will then be contrasted with those obtained from the maximum and zero profit objectives related with the two above-mentioned scenarios. Thus, if the real data come close to those derived from the sole ownership model it will have to be acknowledged that the rules at present in force are optimal. If, on the other hand, the situation more closely approach the results obtained from the open access model, we will endeavour in our conclusions to provide suggestions for economic policy measures that might improve the situation in the fishery.

Quota and Licensing Systems in the VIII Division European Anchovy

Paper presented at 12th Annual Conference of EAERE 2003 Bilbao (Spain)

Multiple SNP Markers Reveal Fine-Scale Population and Deep Phylogeographic Structure in European Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus L.)

10 p.

Economic Effects of Global Warming under Stock Growth Uncertainty: The European Sardine Fishery

Global warming of the oceans is expected to alter the environmental conditions that determine the growth of a fishery resource. Most climate change studies are based on models and scenarios that focus on economic growth, or they concentrate on simulating the potential losses or cost to fisheries due to climate change. However, analysis that addresses model optimization problems to better understand of the complex dynamics of climate change and marine ecosystems is still lacking. In this paper a simple algorithm to compute transitional dynamics in order to quantify the effect of climate change on the European sardine fishery is presented. The model results indicate that global warming will not necessarily lead to a monotonic decrease in the expected biomass levels. Our results show that if the resource is exploited optimally then in the short run, increases in the surface temperature of the fishery ground are compatible with higher expected biomass and economic profit.

SNP Discovery in European Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus, L) by High-Throughput Transcriptome and Genome Sequencing

12 p.

The precautionary approach and the management of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) – critical remarks

Recruitment and commercial catches of European eel have been in decline since the late 1970s. So far, the reasons are not well understood. A range of potential natural and anthropogenic reasons have been discussed, but the relative importance of the factors is unknown. As a consequence of the decline in recruitment an urgent need for protective management measures was concluded. The main approach is to restrict the fishery on eel, in particular with reference to the precautionary approach. However, in view of the lack of knowledge on the factors responsible for the recruitment decline and by considering that many yellow and silver eel stocks in freshwaters depend on restocking by the fishery, such simplified conclusions are critically discussed. A concept for the sustainable management of eel has to include 1) research on the factors determining the population dynamics, in particular during the oceanic stages, 2) a stronger consideration of socio-economic aspects, and 3) intensified research on artificial reproduction and rearing of eel.

Recovery of the stocks of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) by spawner enhancement

The production of healthy high quality female European eel in recycle systems is proposed as a means to secure sufficient numbers of silver eel for spawning migration in order to meet the requirements of the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation for the recovery of the stock of the European eel. Main advantages besides checks for parasites and viral diseases and avoidance of elevated levels of specific pollutants are the easily controllable numbers of spawners to be released and a reduction of labour and costs that will occur when acting along the lines of the Commission’s proposal.

Rapid identification of European (Anguilla anguilla) and North American eel (Anguilla rostrata) by polymerase chain reaction.

A rapid and cost effective DNA test is described to identify European eel (Anguilla anguilla) and North American eel (Anguilla rostrata). By means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique parts of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene are amplified with species specific primers which are designed to produce PCR fragments of different characteristic sizes for European and American eel. The size differences can easily be made visible by agarose gel electrophoresis