The objective of this study was to identify and investigate the
underlying basis for the increasing volume of U.S. imports of fishery
products from 1958-1969. It was recognized that many institutional
constraints contributed to the high marginal cost of domestic harvesting
which placed the United States at a comparative disadvantage in
fish production. However, the fact that both shrimp and tuna were in
great demand by American consumers at the same time that these
fishery resources were near their maximum sustainable yield contributed
to an increased volume of shrimp and tuna imports. It was
hypothesized that increasing domestic demand, together with an
inelastic domestic supply schedule, contributed to increased prices
and encouraged U.S. importation of fishery products. It was also
hypothesized that these phenomena resulted in U.S. direct investment
abroad for the exploitation of foreign fishery resources.
The Heckscher-Ohlin theory of trade was utilized to examine
the relationship of this hypothesis to other empirical studies of trade.
A monthly time series regression analysis of the domestic Gulf
and South Atlantic shrimp industry from 1958 through 1969 established
that both the domestic supply schedule and the domestic demand
schedule for these shrimp were price inelastic. Domestic demand
was income elastic. An attempt to specify and estimate an import
demand function was unsuccessful due to the lack of data necessary to
estimate the simultaneous effects of import supply. However, after
hypothesizing several supply relationships in a simultaneous model,
it became apparent that increasing world and U.S. per capita incomes
would put strong upward pressure on U.S. wholesale prices, ceteris
paribus. These findings are not totally applicable to the U.S. groundfish
industry; however, they are appropriate with reference to the
tuna industry.
Policy implications of these results were examined from a
consumer, fisherman, national, and world perspective. Many
policies which would benefit one group would not necessarily benefit
all groups. Because free trade results in income redistribution
between nations and individuals, the answer to the question of whether
or not increasing imports are a cause for concern is contingent
upon the identification of policy objectives. / Graduation date: 1974
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/26539 |
| Date | 30 July 1973 |
| Creators | Batie, Sandra S. |
| Contributors | Castle, Emery N. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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