Research is also required into how to design equitable management systems. In developed countries the most successful management systems seem to be those based around individual transferable quotas. In designing such systems, many economists have taken the standard line, that the initial allocation of quotas is irrelevant on efficiency grounds. Provided that quotas are transferale, the market will quickly correct the initial allocation to ensure that the rights are exploited efficiently. There is now clear evidence that such management schemes do generate efficiency, but it is also clear that in the process vast amounts of, arguably national, wealth have simply been given to a few fortunate individuals who happened to be fishers at the right time. Such handouts raise questions of both intra- and intergenerational equity. What is most interesting however is that they now appear also to raise questions related to the efficiency of the management systems. Experience in Iceland, and elsewhere, suggests that as the general public come to realise the value of what has been given to the fishers, increasing disenchantment with the management system sets in. It appears therefore that equity is an important issue not only for its own sake but also because it may determine what are sustainably efficient outcomes.
In developing countries where fishery resources represent an important potential for capital accumulation, the issue of equity is likely to be of even greater importance in developing appropriate fishery policies. This area also requires much more research.
The issue of equity versus equality has always been important. An important dimension of the debate hinges on whether it is sufficient (assuming that it is possible) to achieve equality of opportunity or whether the aim should be equality of outcome. The debate is certainly not new: as long ago as the 4th century BC, Aristotle argued that "equality consists in the same treatment of similar persons".
The worldwide development of national lotteries certainly indicates a general acceptance of inequality of outcome, at least under certain circumstances. For instance, in the UK national lottery (and in many such lotteries) there is effectively only one major prize: the jackpot which is in the order of $10 million a week. Although a significant number of people denounce the lottery, the much more significant number who participate clearly reveal their preference for extreme inequality of outcome, presumably on the grounds that there is equality of opportunity.
The important point is that in developing efficient management systems, the equity implications will have to be considered at the outset. It will be extremely difficult to correct the situation once efficiency has been achieved.
