A laboratory assessment of the choice of vessel size under individual transferable quota regimes

This paper examines the effect of individual transferable quota regimes on technology choice, such as choice of vessel size, by using the laboratory experiment method. We find that even if vessel sizes change over time, the quota price can converge to the fundamental value conditioned on the vessels chosen. We also find that subjects choose their vessel type to maximise their profits based on the quota trading prices in the previous period. This result implies that the efficiency of quota markets in the beginning period is important because any inefficiency in quota markets may affect vessel sizes in ensuing periods. Moreover, we find that the initial allocations may significantly influence vessel sizes through two channels: first, a higher initial allocation to a subject increases the likelihood that the subject invests in a large-sized vessel; second, the quota price may be higher and more unstable under unequal allocation than under equal allocation; thus, whether the allocation is equal influences subjects' choice of vessel type. © 2014 Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society Inc.

Catch limits, capacity utilization and cost reduction in Japanese fishery management

Japan's fishery harvest peaked in the late 1980s. To limit the race for fish, each fisherman could be provided with specific catch limits in the form of individual transferable quotas (ITQs). The market for ITQs would also help remove the most inefficient fishers. In this article we estimate the potential cost reduction associated with catch limits, and find that about 300 billion yen or about 3 billion dollars could be saved through the allocation and trading of individual-specific catch shares.

Does size matter? An assessment of quota market evolution and performance in the Great Barrier Reef fin-fish fishery

In fisheries managed using individual transferable quotas (ITQs) it is generally assumed that quota markets are well-functioning, allowing quota to flow on either a temporary or permanent basis to those able to make best use of it. However, despite an increasing number of fisheries being managed under ITQs, empirical assessments of the quota markets that have actually evolved in these fisheries remain scarce. The Queensland Coral Reef Fin-Fish Fishery (CRFFF) on the Great Barrier Reef has been managed under a system of ITQs since 2004. Data on individual quota holdings and trades for the period 2004-2012 were used to assess the CRFFF quota market and its evolution through time. Network analysis was applied to assess market structure and the nature of lease-trading relationships. An assessment of market participants’ abilities to balance their quota accounts, i.e., gap analysis, provided insights into market functionality and how this may have changed in the period observed. Trends in ownership and trade were determined, and market participants were identified as belonging to one out of a set of seven generalized types. The emergence of groups such as investors and lease-dependent fishers is clear. In 2011-2012, 41% of coral trout quota was owned by participants that did not fish it, and 64% of total coral trout landings were made by fishers that owned only 10% of the quota. Quota brokers emerged whose influence on the market varied with the bioeconomic conditions of the fishery. Throughout the study period some quota was found to remain inactive, implying potential market inefficiencies. Contribution to this inactivity appeared asymmetrical, with most residing in the hands of smaller quota holders. The importance of transaction costs in the operation of the quota market and the inequalities that may result are discussed in light of these findings

Quota and Licensing Systems in the VIII Division European Anchovy

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

Managing shark fishermen in southern Australia : a critique

This paper analyses effects of a shift from input to output controls in Australia's Southern Shark Fishery. We show that the use of two management tools--individual transferable quotas and a "partnership approach"--was flawed and argue that primary contributing causes were the unjustified expectation that quota management would serve as a [`]technical fix' to a variety of presumed problems, the discounting of social effects and the extreme lack of stability in the organizational structure within which this fishery was situated.

Incentive-based approaches to sustainable fisheries

The failures of traditional target-species management have led many to propose an ecosystem approach to fisheries to promote sustainability. The ecosystem approach is necessary, especially to account for fishery-ecosystem interactions, but by itself is not sufficient to address two important factors contributing to unsustainable fisheries: inappropriate incentives bearing on fishers and the ineffective governance that frequently exists in commercial, developed fisheries managed primarily by total-harvest limits and input controls. We contend that much greater emphasis must be placed on fisher motivation when managing fisheries. Using evidence from more than a dozen natural experiments in commercial fisheries, we argue that incentive-based approaches that better specify community and individual harvest or territorial rights and price ecosystem services and that are coupled with public research, monitoring, and effective oversight promote sustainable fisheries.

Perceptions and Preferences of Commercial Fishers for Dedicated Access Privilege Framework in a Multispecies Fishery

The decline of the world's fisheries and the inability of traditional management frameworks to maintain them, has led managers to adopt alternative management frameworks. The use of dedicated access privileges have often been shown to have varying popularity among factions within the commercial fishing industry and managers. Here, we examine commercial fishers' preference for alternative management frameworks in the context of a unique multispecies fisheries of the Florida Keys. By surveying commercial fishers, we find that that the size of operation plays no role in affecting fisher perception regarding dedicated access privileges. Furthermore, fishers who are organized are less likely to support dedicated access privilege frameworks. Overall, we do not find enough support in the fishing industry for the implementation of dedicated access privileges in the Florida Keys. These findings can provide inputs in developing effective management plans in the region.

Fishing quota markets

In 1986, New Zealand responded to the open-access problem by establishing the world's largest individual transferable quota (ITQ) system. Using a 15-year panel dataset from New Zealand that covers 33 species and more than 150 markets for fishing quotas, we assess trends in market activity, price dispersion, and the fundamentals determining quota prices. We find that market activity is sufficiently high in the economically important markets and that price dispersion has decreased. We also find evidence of economically rational behavior through the relationship between quota lease and sale prices and fishing output and input prices, ecological variability, and market interest rates. Controlling for these factors, our results show a greater increase in quota prices for fish stocks that faced significant reductions, consistent with increased profitability due to rationalization. Overall, this suggests that these markets are operating reasonably well, implying that ITQs can be effective instruments for efficient fisheries management. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Essays on the Bioeconomics of the Northern Baltic Fisheries

World marine fisheries suffer from economic and biological overfishing: too many vessels are harvesting too few fish stocks. Fisheries economics has explained the causes of overfishing and provided a theoretical background for management systems capable of solving the problem. Yet only a few examples of fisheries managed by the principles of the bioeconomic theory exist. With the aim of bridging the gap between the actual fish stock assessment models used to provide management advice and economic optimisation models, the thesis explores economically sound harvesting from national and international perspectives. Using data calibrated for the Baltic salmon and herring stocks, optimal harvesting policies are outlined using numerical methods. First, the thesis focuses on the socially optimal harvest of a single salmon stock by commercial and recreational fisheries. The results obtained using dynamic programming show that the optimal fishery configuration would be to close down three out of the five studied fisheries. The result is robust to stock size fluctuations. Compared to a base case situation, the optimal fleet structure would yield a slight decrease in the commercial catch, but a recreational catch that is nearly seven times higher. As a result, the expected economic net benefits from the fishery would increase nearly 60%, and the expected number of juvenile salmon (smolt) would increase by 30%. Second, the thesis explores the management of multiple salmon stocks in an international framework. Non-cooperative and cooperative game theory are used to demonstrate different "what if" scenarios. The results of the four player game suggest that, despite the commonly agreed fishing quota, the behaviour of the countries has been closer to non-cooperation than cooperation. Cooperation would more than double the net benefits from the fishery compared to a past fisheries policy. Side payments, however, are a prerequisite for a cooperative solution. Third, the thesis applies coalitional games in the partition function form to study whether the cooperative solution would be stable despite the potential presence of positive externalities. The results show that the cooperation of two out of four studied countries can be stable. Compared to a past fisheries policy, a stable coalition structure would provide substantial economic benefits. Nevertheless, the status of the salmon stocks would not improve significantly. Fourth, the thesis studies the prerequisites for and potential consequences of the implementation of an individual transferable quota (ITQ) system in the Finnish herring fishery. Simulation results suggest that ITQs would result in a decrease in the number of fishing vessels, but enables positive profits to overlap with a higher stock size. The empirical findings of the thesis affirm that the profitability of the studied fisheries could be improved. The evidence, however, indicates that incentives for free riding exist, and thus the most preferable outcome both in economic and biological terms is elusive.

Essays in mechanism design

This dissertation contains three essays on mechanism design. The common goal of these essays is to assist in the solution of different resource allocation problems where asymmetric information creates obstacles to the efficient allocation of resources. In each essay, we present a mechanism that satisfactorily solves the resource allocation problem and study some of its properties. In our first essay, ”Combinatorial Assignment under Dichotomous Preferences”, we present a class of problems akin to time scheduling without a pre-existing time grid, and propose a mechanism that is efficient, strategy-proof and envy-free. Our second essay, ”Monitoring Costs and the Management of Common-Pool Resources”, studies what can happen to an existing mechanism — the individual tradable quotas (ITQ) mechanism, also known as the cap-and-trade mechanism — when quota enforcement is imperfect and costly. Our third essay, ”Vessel Buyback”, coauthored with John O. Ledyard, presents an auction design that can be used to buy back excess capital in overcapitalized industries.

Asset pricing in created markets

We investigate the applicability of the present-value asset pricing model to fishing quota markets by applying instrumental variable panel data estimation techniques to 15 years of market transactions from New Zealand's individual transferable quota (ITQ) market. In addition to the influence of current fishing rents, we explore the effect of market interest rates, risk, and expected changes in future rents on quota asset prices. The results indicate that quota asset prices are positively related to declines in interest rates, lower levels of risk, expected increases in future fish prices, and expected cost reductions from rationalization under the quota system. © 2007 American Agricultural Economics Association.

The effects of training on performance and performance-related states in individual elite athletes : a dynamic approach

There are difficulties undertaking controlled training studies with elite athletes. Thus, data from non-elite performers are often presented in scientific journals and subsequently used to guide general training principles. This information may not be transferable or specific enough to inform training practices in an individual elite athlete. However, the nature of athletic participation at elite levels provides the opportunity to collect training data, performance-related variables, and performance data of elite athletes over long periods. In this paper, we describe how dynamic linear models provide an opportunity to use these data to inform training. Data from an elite female triathlete collected over a 111-day training period were used to model the relationship between training and self-reported fatigue. The dynamic linear model analysis showed the independent effects of the three modes of triathlon training on fatigue, how these can change across time, and the possible influence of other unmeasured variables. This paper shows the potential for the use of dynamic linear models as an aid to planning training in elite athletes.

A autonomia patrimonial na empresa individual de responsabilidade limitada (EIRELI)

O presente trabalho pretende demonstrar que o real avanço com o advento da previsão legal da empresa individual de responsabilidade limitada – EIRELI é a proteção conferida pela autonomia patrimonial e não a limitação da responsabilidade do comerciante. Visto que há uma escassez na literatura nacional a respeito do tema, iremos utilizar bibliografia norte americana como base para a primeira parte da pesquisa. Assim poderemos identificar as vantagens e desvantagens da responsabilidade limitada e da autonomia patrimonial para podermos concluir com uma análise de custo e benefício destes institutos jurídicos. Por fim, utilizaremos do conhecimento adquirido por toda esta análise para aplicarmos e adaptarmos as especificações da EIRELI. Nos apoiaremos em doutrina nacional somente em relação as regras de sociedades limitadas, pois a lei determina que estas serão usadas supletivamente para as empresas individuais de responsabilidade limitada. Com base nisso o trabalho será finalizado com uma questão pouco explorada, que é em relação a penhora e liquidação das quotas na EIRELI.

Transferable skills following WAIS-II verbal comprehension index

In this document the results and the reflections brought about by the research for the standardization of the verbal comprehension index of Wechsler scale subtests for measuring adult intelligence, WAIS -III for the general population from 16 to 24 years for the city of La Plata , using the collective administration modality are reported In this opportunity, the performance of 229 students from secondary school from 16 to 18 years, both genders, is being analyzed in the information subtest, as well as that of 155 university and non-university tertiary students from 19 to 24 years, both genders in the same subtest The information subtest is of particular interest because of the implication of previous knowledges in the text comprehension and the personal transferable skills. Given the responses, the analysis allow to make some observations a) there are no statistically significant differences between the individual and the collective administration, by gender and b) the average of correct responses for both age groups is the same but the score distribution shows a greater homogeneity in the group from 16 to18 years.

Transferable skills following WAIS-II verbal comprehension index

In this document the results and the reflections brought about by the research for the standardization of the verbal comprehension index of Wechsler scale subtests for measuring adult intelligence, WAIS -III for the general population from 16 to 24 years for the city of La Plata , using the collective administration modality are reported In this opportunity, the performance of 229 students from secondary school from 16 to 18 years, both genders, is being analyzed in the information subtest, as well as that of 155 university and non-university tertiary students from 19 to 24 years, both genders in the same subtest The information subtest is of particular interest because of the implication of previous knowledges in the text comprehension and the personal transferable skills. Given the responses, the analysis allow to make some observations a) there are no statistically significant differences between the individual and the collective administration, by gender and b) the average of correct responses for both age groups is the same but the score distribution shows a greater homogeneity in the group from 16 to18 years.