Three Essays on Fish Demand Analysis

Abstract

The first chapter is themed around the catfish dispute between Vietnamese pangasius and U.S catfish. Vietnamese pangasius frozen fillets were accused of having depressing effect on U.S catfish prices, which in turn leads to significant material injuries to the respective industry. In this paper, it is evident that, among important whitefish imports, Vietnamese pangasius have the least depressing effect on U.S catfish prices. Thus, any protective measures that are aimed to curb Vietnamese pangasius imports would be unlikely to fruitfully benefit the U.S catfish industry.

Turning to chapter 2, the tests for separability are performed to understand US consumer preferences for fish. Fish included constitute the top most consumed products in the U.S. Separability is investigate within the quantity-dependent demand system in which the generalized demand model is specified and used. Test results indicate that shellfish (shrimp and crab) are symmetrically separable from finfish (salmon, tuna and whitefish). Moreover, within the finfish group, whitefish can be treated as separable from salmon and tuna, and vice versa.

The last chapter is aimed at investigating the effects of exchange rate effects on export prices of Vietnamese pangasius. Understanding behavior of export prices relative to exchange rates is important to the exporting sector because such an elasticity underlies price competitiveness and reaction of export volumes to exchange rates. With respect to Vietnamese pangasius, such knowledge is particularly essential as the industry makes up a significant source of export earnings. Results show that exchange rate pass-through to export prices, although incomplete, is as sizeable as 50%. Incomplete pass-through to export prices implies that part of the incidence of exchange rate realignments is passed into import prices (denominated in foreign currencies). In this way, Vietnamese exporters can widen their profit margins, while improving competitiveness in the foreign markets. Implication to the antidumping duty is discussed.