THE BACKWARD‐BENDING SUPPLY CURVE OF THE FISHING INDUSTRY1
| Published date | 01 February 1970 |
| Author | Parzival Copes |
| Date | 01 February 1970 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9485.1970.tb00487.x |
THE BACKWARD-BENDING SUPPLY
CURVE
OF
THE FISHING INDUSTRY’
PARZIVAL
COPES
Proceeding from an article by Gordon, published in
1954,
the substance
of
an economic theory
of
the fisheries has emerged from the writings
of
a number of economists.2 The theory has emphasized the common-
property nature of the fishery resource, generally leading to
an
‘
over-exploitation
’
that results in dissipation of the rent that the resource
could yield.
The literature stresses,
on
the supply side, the relationship
of
output
to the amount of fishing effort-the latter, in turn, providing a link with
cost. But the consequences of these and other relationships in terms
of
conventional supply and demand analysis-as may be traced in simple
price/output graphs-do not appear to have been treated exhaustively.
It is in this area that the present article attempts
to
make a modest con-
tribution. The analysis that follows purports to demonstrate that the
long-run supply curve of a fishery, as
a
matter of course, may be expected
to exhibit a negative slope for higher price ranges.
A
few of the con-
sequences of this phenomenon are explored.
The initial model presented here considers, in isolation, a fishery based
on the exploitation
of
a circumscribed stock
of
fish
of
one species with
an unchanging matrix of natural conditions and bioligical relationships.
Factor proportions and the state of fishing technology are regarded as fixed
and it is assumed that there is unrestricted entry to the fishery. Supply is
considered statically in terms of a long-run equilibrium in the weight
of
catch (per given time span). The time allowed for equilibration must be
adequate for the adjustment
of
fishing effort to (long-run) conditions
of
market demand and, simultaneously, for biological adjustment of the fish
stock to changes in the level
of
fishing effort. In other words, the supply
in any instance, is one that is characterized by the sustained application
of a particular level of fishing effort.
*
I
am indebted
to
A.
D.
Scott and
R.
A.
Holmes for their helpful critique.
Several of their suggestions are reflected
in
the final version
of
this paper. They
bear no responsibility for the remaining faults.
H.
Scott Gordon,
‘
The Economic Theory of
a
Common-Property Resource
:
The Fishery,’
lortrrial
of
Political
Economy,
Vol. 62, April 1954, pp. 124-42.
Another notable contribution is Anthony
D.
Scott, ‘The Fishery’
:
The
Objectives
of
Sole Ownership,’
Journal
of
Political
Economy,
Vol. 63, April
1955,
69
pp. 116-24.
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