Whaling and wages on Alaska's north slope: A time allocation approach to natural resource use

Economic Development and Cultural Change

Volumn 45, Issue 3, 1997, Pages 651-665

  Kerkvliet, Joe ^a   Nebesky, William ^b  

^a OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b Department of Natural Resources ^*  (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE; TIME ALLOCATION; WHALING;

USA, ALASKA;

EID: 0031414224     PISSN: 00130079     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/452295     Document Type: Article

References (26)

1. J. Kruse, "Alaska Inupiat Subsistence and Wage Employment Patterns: Understanding Individual Choice," Human Organization 50 (1991): 317-26; and J. Stabler, "A Utility Analysis of Activity Patterns of Native Males in the Northwest Territories," Economic Development and Cultural Change 39, no. 1 (1990): 47-60.
2. J. Kruse, "Alaska Inupiat Subsistence and Wage Employment Patterns: Understanding Individual Choice," Human Organization 50 (1991): 317-26; and J. Stabler, "A Utility Analysis of Activity Patterns of Native Males in the Northwest Territories," Economic Development and Cultural Change 39, no. 1 (1990): 47-60.
3. Kruse; and M. Freeman, "Effects of Petroleum Activities on the Ecology of Arctic Man," in Petroleum Effects in the Arctic Environment, ed. F. Engelhart (London: Elsevier Applied Science, 1985).
4. R. Wolfe et al., Subsistence-Based Economies in Coastal Communities of Southwest Alaska (Anchorage: U.S. Department of Interior, Minerals Management Service, 1984).
5. B. DeWalt, "Using Indigenous Knowledge to Improve Agriculture and Natural Resource Management," Human Organization 52, no. 2 (1994): 123-31.
6. W. Nebesky, North Slope Borough Census of Population and Economy (Barrow: Department of Planning and Community Services, North Slope Borough, 1989).
7. For example, it costs more than $10,000 (in 1982 dollars) per season to outfit a whaling crew. International Whaling Commission, Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling (with Special Reference to the Alaska and Greenland Fisheries), ed. G. Donovan (Cambridge: International Whaling Commission, 1985).
8. N. Chance, "Subsistence Research in Alaska: Premises, Practices and Prospects," Human Organization 46 (1987): 85-89; J. VanStone, "A Successful Combination of Subsistence and Wage Economies on the Village Level," Economic Development and Cultural Change 8 (1960): 174-91. This wage-subsistence complementarity suggests that concurrent reductions in harvests may magnify labor market downturns. For example, North Slope oil reserve depletion effects would be magnified.
9. N. Chance, "Subsistence Research in Alaska: Premises, Practices and Prospects," Human Organization 46 (1987): 85-89; J. VanStone, "A Successful Combination of Subsistence and Wage Economies on the Village Level," Economic Development and Cultural Change 8 (1960): 174-91. This wage-subsistence complementarity suggests that concurrent reductions in harvests may magnify labor market downturns. For example, North Slope oil reserve depletion effects would be magnified.
10. J. Dryzek and O. Young, "Internal Colonialism in the Circumpolar North: The Case of Alaska," Development and Change 16 (1985): 123-45.
11. Wolfe et al.
12. T. Brown and E. Burch, Jr., "Estimating the Economic Value of the Subsistence Harvest of Wildlife in Alaska," in Valuing Wildlife in Alaska, ed. G. Peterson (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1992); and International Whaling Commission. M. Sahlins, Stone Age Economics (Chicago: Aldine-Atherton, 1972), pp. 191-246, observes this in other settings.
13. T. Brown and E. Burch, Jr., "Estimating the Economic Value of the Subsistence Harvest of Wildlife in Alaska," in Valuing Wildlife in Alaska, ed. G. Peterson (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1992); and International Whaling Commission. M. Sahlins, Stone Age Economics (Chicago: Aldine-Atherton, 1972), pp. 191-246, observes this in other settings.
14. G. Becker, "A Theory of the Allocation of Time," Economic Journal 75 (1965): 493-517. For an overview, see R. Gronau, "Home Production - a Survey," in Handbook of Labor Economics, ed. O. Ashenfelter and R. Layard (New York: North Holland, 1986), pp. 273-304.
15. G. Becker, "A Theory of the Allocation of Time," Economic Journal 75 (1965): 493-517. For an overview, see R. Gronau, "Home Production - a Survey," in Handbook of Labor Economics, ed. O. Ashenfelter and R. Layard (New York: North Holland, 1986), pp. 273-304.
16. Nebesky. This question followed questions about subsistence and wage labor activities. The respondents include the employed and unemployed, as well as students, the disabled, and the aged.
17. Chance; VanStone; Dryzek and Young; Wolfe et al.; C. Hobart, "Industrial Employment of Rural Indigenes: The Case of Canada," Human Organization 41 (1982): 54-63.
18. 2 to assure positive estimated probabilities. See W. Greene, Econometric Analysis (New York: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 703-6; and P. Kennedy, A Guide to Econometrics (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992), pp. 244-45.
19. 2 to assure positive estimated probabilities. See W. Greene, Econometric Analysis (New York: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 703-6; and P. Kennedy, A Guide to Econometrics (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992), pp. 244-45.
20. Household income was not included because it is highly correlated with MWORK, it is insignificant, and the results are robust with respect to its omission.
21. See, e.g., Kruse (n. 1 above); Stabler (n. 1 above); P. Usher, "Subsistence or Recreation? The Future of Native Wildlife Harvesting in Northern Canada," in Proceedings of the First International Symposium of Renewable Re-sources and the Economy of the North, ed. M. R. Freeman (Ottawa: Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies, 1981).
22. Dryzek and Young; also see Hobart.
23. See J. Grogger, "A Simple Test for Exogeneity in Probit, Logit, and Poisson Regression Models," Economics Letters 33 (1990): 329-32. Details of the conduct of this test are available from us on request.
24. We also sampled only those who worked at least 6 months of the year (N = 1,549), those with MWORK ≥ 9 (N = 1,736); and employed respondents with MWORK ≤ 6 (N = 372). These results are not reported here but are available from us.
25. See Sahlins for a broader discussion.
26. A referee pointed out that some factors may impede a return to subsistence activities in the event of reduced wage opportunities. Subsistence skills may deteriorate or never be learned by youth. More expensive inputs may reduce sharing. Also, Inupiats may turn to tourism and guided hunting rather than subsistence.