Author

Fuzhi Cheng

Date of Award

8-2001

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Resource Economics and Policy

Advisor

Hsiang-Tai Cheng

Second Committee Member

George K. Criner

Third Committee Member

Alan S. Kezis

Abstract

The supply of scallops in the United States in recent years has remained relatively stable and the supply source has shifted noticeably from domestic production to imports, especially from China and Japan, where aquaculture production of scallops has been successful. During the past decade, the market share of imported scallops has increased drastically. The scallop fishery in the U.S. is now facing potential competitions from imports. Continuing efforts to provide information on the effect of increasing imports on the U.S. scallop market is warranted. In addition, the impacts of supply increases on domestic scallop prices, either through wild stock enhancement programs or aquaculture operations, merit further investigation. An Annington model is developed in this study to assess the demand for scallops in the United States. Time series data for 1980-1998 are used in the estimation of the model. Results indicate that the demand for U.S. domestic scallops is less elastic in the short run than in the long run. The substitution elasticities and the cross-price elasticities of U.S. scallops with respect to scallop imports are relatively small, indicating that they may be imperfect substitutes. U.S. domestic scallops and scallop imports from other countries may serve different market segments, and there exists little direct competition between them.

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