Dissertation Research: Household Management of Shrimp Aquaculture in Southern China: Account of Coastal Resource Development

本项目涉及一位来自加州大学洛杉矶分校的人类学学生的论文研究。该学生将研究对沿海自然资源的不平等获取如何影响中国对虾养殖的家庭管理。假设资源富裕户将发展企业家式的管理方式，实行集约化生产，而资源贫乏户将采取风险规避、多元化和分散的管理方式和经济生产。在劳动力分配、决策、财务管理和家庭文化方面，从事集约化虾养殖的家庭与使用更可持续的传统方法的家庭存在差异。方法包括结构化访谈、正式的决策研究、时间分配研究以及参与者观察。这项研究很重要，因为对虾水产养殖的增长是世界上许多较贫穷国家经济发展的一部分，并与当地生态系统的危害有关。我们对这些经济系统如何在家庭决策的微观层面上运作的认识的进步，将有助于计划者在努力保持发展效益的同时减少生态成本。

This project involves the dissertation research of an anthropology student from UCLA. The student will investigate how unequal access to coastal natural resources affects the household management of shrimp aquaculture in China. The hypothesis is that resource-rich households will develop entrepreneurial management styles and practice intensive production, while resource-poor households will follow a risk-averse, diversified and diffused style of management and economic production. Households practicing intensive shrimp aquaculture differ from those using more sustainable traditional methods in terms of labor allocation, decision making, financial management and household culture. Methods include structured interviews, formal studies of decision making, time allocation studies as well as participant observation. This research is important because the growth of shrimp aquaculture is part of economic development in many poorer nations of the world, and has been associated with harm to the local ecosystem. The advance in our knowledge of how these economic systems work in micro-level detail of household decision making, will be helpful to planners trying to maintain the developmental benefits while ameliorating the ecological costs.