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Not by Rent Alone: Analysing the Pro‐Poor Functions of Small‐Scale Fisheries in Developing Countries
Author(s) -
Béné Christophe,
Hersoug Bjørn,
Allison Edward H.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
development policy review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.671
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1467-7679
pISSN - 0950-6764
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7679.2010.00486.x
Subject(s) - redistribution (election) , economics , developing country , scale (ratio) , welfare , cash , fishery , cash transfers , social welfare function , resource (disambiguation) , natural resource economics , public economics , economic growth , macroeconomics , market economy , geography , political science , computer network , cartography , politics , biology , computer science , law
The dominant view in academic and policy arenas is increasingly one in which the major contribution of capture fisheries to development should be derived from the capacity of society to maximise the economic rent of fishery resources. Drawing upon empirical experience from the South, this article highlights the potentially disastrous consequences that a universal implementation of the rent‐maximisation model would have in developing countries, and argues that a more gradual approach would be preferable. The welfare function of small‐scale fisheries, namely, their capacities to provide labour and cash income to resource‐poor households, should be preserved until the appropriate macroeconomic conditions for rent‐maximisation and redistribution are fulfilled.