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Marine Resource Economics >
Volume 23, Number 3, 2008 >
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://purl.umn.edu/54125
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| Title: | Are Fishermen Rational? A Fishing Expedition |
| Authors: | Holland, Daniel S. |
| Authors (Email): | Holland, Daniel S. (dholland@gmri.org) |
| Keywords: | Fisheries
risk aversion
prospect theory
uncertainty
heuristics and
biases. |
| JEL Codes: | D01
Q22. |
| Issue Date: | 2008-10 |
| Series/Report no.: | Marine Resource Economics
Vol. 23 No. 3 |
| Abstract: | Uncertainty is a defining characteristic of fisheries. Fishermen make
decisions affecting their livelihood daily and even hourly, often with scant information
on which to evaluate alternatives. Cognitive psychologists and
behavioral economists have shown that decisions involving uncertainty often diverge
substantially from what would be predicted by expected utility theory. I
review relevant findings from the literature on decision making under uncertainty
and previous empirical modeling of fishing decisions, and explore the
implications of a number of different behavioral theories on fishing decisions of
various types. Excerpts from ethnographic interviews of groundfish fishermen in
New England are used to illustrate how these fishermen deal with uncertainty in
decisions they make about when, where, how, and how long to fish. The interviews
provide anecdotal evidence in support of prospect theory and other
behavioral hypotheses that appear to contrast with what would be considered
rational behavior from a neoclassical economics perspective. |
| URI: | http://purl.umn.edu/54125 |
| Identifiers: | 0738-1360 |
| Institution/Association: | Marine Resource Economics>Volume 23, Number 3, 2008 |
| Total Pages: | 20 |
| From Page: | 325 |
| To Page: | 344 |
| Collections: | Volume 23, Number 3, 2008
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| File |
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Size | Format |
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| 06-Holland.pdf | | 82Kb | PDF | View/Open |
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