Fishing quota markets
Abstract
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.
Type
Journal articlePermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10270Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.jeem.2004.06.005Publication Info
Newell, RG; Sanchirico, JN; & Kerr, S (2005). Fishing quota markets. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 49(3). pp. 437-462. 10.1016/j.jeem.2004.06.005. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10270.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
Collections
More Info
Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Richard G. Newell
Adjunct Professor
Dr. Richard G. Newell is the President and CEO of Resources for the Future (RFF),
an independent, nonprofit research institution that improves environmental, energy,
and natural resource decisions through impartial economic research and policy engagement.
From 2009 to 2011, he served as the administrator of the US Energy Information Administration,
the agency responsible for official US government energy statistics and analysis.
Dr. Newell is an adjunct professor at Duke University, where he

Articles written by Duke faculty are made available through the campus open access policy. For more information see: Duke Open Access Policy
Rights for Collection: Scholarly Articles
Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info