Check out the latest research from our newest MERE group member! Dr. Julia Bronnmann joined us as Assistant Professor this summer. Here’s one of her several 2020 publications. We’re glad to have her with us!
Citation and link
Highlights
Analyzes data from an inland fish market in Namibia where small-scale fish traders sell freshwater fish.•
The inland fish market in Namibia is integrated into global markets.•
Fish traders receive higher real prices consistent with trade competition and access to high-income global markets.•
Market integration and rising prices reflect new transportation and market infrastructure and increasing of globalization.
Abstract
Within the last decades, globalization has changed the international seafood trade, allowing low-income countries to access markets in high-income countries and vice versa. Nevertheless, the effects of globalization are controversial and in particular the impacts on small-scale fishers and local fish traders are unclear. This paper examines the economic effects of globalization on a local fish market in Katima Mulilo, Namibia along the Zambezi River and near the border with Zambia. Using market data from January 2008 to December 2016, we test two hypotheses. First, we test if the local market is integrated with global markets. Second, we test whether local prices are increasing and associated with positive terms of trade. Using time series methods and hedonic models, results show that the Katima market is linked to the world market, and local fish traders receive higher prices over time as predicted by an increasingly globalized seafood trade.
Image credit: “Katima Mulilo Market” by Zibiso is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Mereconomics 