Human Capital Depreciation: Impoverishment of Mangrove Shellfishing in Tumaco, Colombia

Abstract

This research studies a set of mangrove shellfishers on the South-Pacific Coast of Colombia. Results show the impoverishment and lack of human capital of shellfishers. Findings indicate that the age of shellfishers is negatively correlated to human capital formation. As a consequence, senior shellfishers exert higher levels of effort to maintain livelihoods. By estimating seemingly unrelated regressions, we identify that shellfishers with higher human capital harvest lower shellfish quantities, implying that the less educated shellfishers engage in the activity as a last resort. Furthermore, women are more frequent in the activity, though exhibiting non-significant differences in productivity compared to men.