Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T07:55:24.402Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A corporate-crime perspective on fisheries: liability rules and non-compliance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

Frank Jensen  and
Linda Nøstbakken
Frank Jensen
Affiliation:
University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics, Rolighedsvej 23, 1958 Frederiksberg C., Copenhagen, Denmark. Tel: 0045 35336898. E-mail: [email protected]
Linda Nøstbakken
Affiliation:
Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics, Bergen, Norway. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The existing fisheries economics literature analyzes compliance problems by treating the fishing firm as one cohesive unit, but in many cases violations are committed by agents acting on behalf of a firm. To account for this, we analyze the principal–agent relationship within the fishing firm. In the case where the firm directly benefits from illegal fishing, the firm must induce its crew to violate regulations through the incentive scheme. Within this framework, we analyze how the allocation of liability between fishing firms and crew affects quota violations and the ability to design a socially efficient fisheries policy. We show that without wage frictions, it does not matter who is held liable. However, under the commonly used share systems of remuneration, crew liability generally yields a more efficient outcome than firm liability. Furthermore, asset restrictions may affect the outcome under various liability rules.

Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 21 , Issue 3 , June 2016 , pp. 371 - 392
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aanesen, M. and Armstrong, C. (2013), ‘Stakeholder influence and optimal regulations: a common agency analysis of ecosystem-based fisheries regulation’, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 169: 320–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Agnew, D.J. (2000), ‘The illegal and unregulated fishery for toothfish in the Southern Ocean, and the CCAMLR catch documentation scheme’, Marine Policy 24: 361–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, L.G. and Lee, D.R. (1986), ‘Optimal governing instruments in natural resource regulation: the case of fishery’, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 3: 630–653.Google Scholar
Arlen, J. (ed.) ( 2013), Research Handbook on the Economics of Torts, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Arnason, R. (2013), ‘On optimal dynamic fisheries enforcement’, Marine Resource Economics 28: 361–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnason, R., Hannesson, R., and Schrank, W.E. (2000), ‘Costs of fisheries management: the cases of Iceland, Norway and Newfoundland’, Marine Policy 24: 233–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, G.S. (1968), ‘Crime and punishment: an economic approach’, Journal of Political Economy 76: 169–217.Google Scholar
Bergland, H. (1995), ‘Sharing the catch’, PhD thesis, University of Oslo.Google Scholar
Bontems, P., Dubois, P., and Vukina, T. (2004), ‘Optimal regulation of private production contracts with environmental externalities’, Journal of Regulatory Economics 26: 287–301.Google Scholar
Clark, C.W (1990), Mathematical Bioeconomics: The Optimal Management of Renewable Resources, New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Coelho, M.P. (2012), ‘Crime, enforcement and compliance: guidelines for the reform of the common fisheries policy’, Congresso Portugues de Sociology, 19–22 June.Google Scholar
de Vries, F.P. and Franckx, L. (2012), ‘A note on organizational design and the optimal allocation of environmental liability’, Stirling Management School, Discussion Paper No. 2012-09, Stirling.Google Scholar
Furlong, W.J. (1991), ‘The deterrent effect of regulatory enforcement in the fishery’, Land Economics 67: 116–129.Google Scholar
Hansen, L.G., Jensen, F., Brandt, U.S., and Vestergaard, N. (2006), ‘Illegal landings: an aggregate catch self-reporting mechanism’, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 88: 974–984.Google Scholar
Hatcher, A. (2009), ‘A note on the relative violation arguments in expected penalty functions for permit noncompliance’, Applied Economic Letters 16: 421–423.Google Scholar
Jardine, S.L. and Sanchirico, J.N. (2012), ‘Catch share programs in developing countries: a survey of the literature’, Marine Policy 36: 1242–1254.Google Scholar
Jensen, F. and Vestergaard, N. (2002a), ‘Moral hazard problems in fisheries regulation: the case of illegal landings and discard’, Resource and Energy Economics 24: 281–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, F. and Vestergaard, N. (2002b), ‘A principal-agent analysis of fisheries’, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 158: 276–285.Google Scholar
Jensen, F. and Vestergaard, N. (2007), ‘Asymmetric information and uncertainty: the usefulness of logbooks as a regulatory measure’, Ecological Economics 66: 815–824.Google Scholar
Kornhauser, L. (1982), ‘An economic analysis of the choice between enterprise and personal liability for accidents’, California Law Review 70: 1345–1392.Google Scholar
Laffont, J.J. and Tirole, J. (1993), A Theory of Incentives in Procurement and Regulation, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Lewin, J.L. and Trumbull, W.N. (1990), ‘The social value of crime?’, International Review of Law and Economics 10: 271–284.Google Scholar
Matthiasson, T. (1999), ‘Cost sharing and catch sharing’, Journal of Development Economics 58: 25–44.Google Scholar
Milliman, S.R. (1986), ‘Optimal fishery management in the presence of illegal activity’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 13: 363–381.Google Scholar
Mullin, W.P. and Snyder, C.M. (2005), ‘Targeting employees for corporate crime and forbidding their indemnification’, SSRN working paper, April; doi:10.2139/ssrn.558341.Google Scholar
Mullin, W.P. and Snyder, C.M. (2010), ‘Should firms be allowed to indemnify their employees for sanctions?’, Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 26: 30–53.Google Scholar
Neher, P. (1990), Natural Resource Economics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Nguyen, Q. and Leung, P. (2009), ‘Choice of remuneration regime in fisheries: the case of Hawaii's longline fisheries’, Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 34: 498–517.Google Scholar
Nøstbakken, L. (2008), ‘Fisheries law enforcement: a survey of the economic literature’, Marine Policy 32: 293–300.Google Scholar
Sappington, D. (1983), ‘Limited liability contracts between principal and agent’, Journal of Economic Theory 29: 1–21.Google Scholar
Segerson, K. and Tietenberg, T. (1992), ‘The structure of penalties in environmental enforcement: an economic analysis’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 23: 179–200.Google Scholar
Sutinen, J.G. and Andersen, P. (1985), ‘The economics of fisheries law enforcement’, Land Economics 61: 387–397.Google Scholar
Thuy, P.T., Flaaten, O., and Ank, N.T.K. (2013), ‘Remuneration systems and economic performance: theory and Vietnamese small-scale purse seine fisheries’, Marine Resource Economics 28: 19–41.Google Scholar
Vestergaard, N. (2010), ‘Principal-agent problems in fisheries’, in Grafton, R.Q., Hilborn, R., Squires, D., Taih, M. and Williand, M. (eds), Handbook of Marine Fisheries Conservation and Management, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Jensen and Nøstbakken supplementary material

Online Appendix

Download Jensen and Nøstbakken supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 199.6 KB