Abstract :
Subsidising or extending credit for fishing often has negative impacts on fish stocks and does not improve the income of fishermen, but little research has been conducted on financial assistance to fishermen’s wives (fisherwomen). Fisherwomen have a very important role in helping the family economy but often face problems due to the lack of financial capabilities. Most of the fisherwomen who run fisheries small scale businesses, such as selling fish in baskets in markets on the north coast of Java, obtain financial micro-credit assistance from cooperatives, rural banks or from middlemen. This paper analyses whether financial assistance in the form of micro-credit affects fisherwomen’s income. By using regression analysis, the impact of different types of existing microcredit on recipients compared to non-recipients is analysed with respect to socio-economic variables on income, return on investment, and expenditure. An efficiency analysis using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was carried out to determine whether fisherwomen who received financial assistance (micro-credit) would be more efficient in terms of using their inputs compared to those who did not receive credit. The units of analysis were groups of fisherwomen who received micro-credit and those who did not avail of micro credit. The inputs were measured by cost of capital, working hours and micro-credit, while outputs were measured in total revenue. The paper also analyses the optimum amount of credit for the fisherwomen studied.
