Factors influencing financial performance in marine small-scale fisheries in Kenya

The paper empirically looks at actors’ (fishers, middlemen, processors) performance (in terms of profitability) in perspective of Structure-Conduct-Performance (S-C-P) paradigm that states that actors’ performance is influenced by actor behavior (conduct) such as; power to determine prices, collusion, access to market information and types of products chosen. In turn, actors’ behaviour is influenced by structural factors such as value chain postioning, amount of capital invested and the power actors wield. The study looks at how these three factors interact to influence performance, before considering how other factors also influence performance. Key highlights of the findings include;

• Effect of structure on actors’ conduct, revealed no significant influence
• Structure and conduct did not significantly influence profitability in all groups
• Non-S-C-P factors sales and costs were more important in influencing profitability
• Increasing sales, improved profitability, while increasing variable and fixed costs decreased profitability
• The S-C-P paradigm is not strongly upheld in Kenya’s marine small-scale fisheries

See full paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X20308642?dgcid=author