Can Public Credit Programs Improve Artisanal Fisher Performance? The Case of FONDEPES, a Credit Program

In this study, we show the effects of the FONDEPES credit program - a government public credit program- focused only on artisanal fishers – on profits, associativity, fish landing centers (DPA), sales destinations, and employment. We take advantage of the program's selection mechanism and the National Artisanal Maritime Census data 2012 to apply a Propensity Score Matching (PSM) methodology. The results show that receiving the credit from the program improves the profits, associativity, and sales destination. Additionally, the results are robust under different matching types, covariate balance, inverse-probability-weighted (IPW), and non-observable tests. Overall, the evidence found in this analysis suggests that the FONDEPES credit program can help artisanal fishers improve their performance. However, there are differences between the outcomes of fishermen and ship-owners, the latter being the largest. It is recommended to focus on the group of fishermen by government entities to provide training and assistance in administrative issues to leap productivity to become a ship-owner. Exploring other credit products that replace the dependence on financing from intermediaries is recommended in ship-owners' cases.