Boat Owners' Indebtedness data

This dataset is a smaller part of a bigger primary dataset that was collected as part of the contributer's PhD research. The research looks at socio-economic vulnerabilities in small-scale fisheries in India. The broader dataset was generated through an extensive field-based primary survey conducted across fishing communities in the coastal states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The survey collected comprehensive data on household characteristics, fishing activities, and economic conditions of small-scale fishing households using a semi-structured questionnaire that included information on demographic attributes, fishing assets, operational costs, borrowing sources, and levels of indebtedness. It was gathered in the year 2023-24 and subsequently cleaned, coded, and organized for analysis.

The dataset provided here has been processed and coded specifically for the analysis of indebtedness among boat owners in small-scale fisheries. Therefore, it exclusively incorporates the variables utilized in the indebtedness analysis outlined in the corresponding research article. Variables not directly relevant to this analysis have been excluded to provide a focused and interpretable dataset. This dataset enables the examination of patterns of indebtedness among small-scale boat owners and supports analysis of the socio-economic factors associated with debt in small-scale fisheries.

The study examines the nature and drivers of indebtedness among small-scale fishers in India and analyzes its implications for the sustainability of coastal socio-ecological systems. Our study hypothesizes that small-scale fishery households in India exhibit high levels of indebtedness, and that the scale and magnitude vary across regions and socio-economic groups. We also hypothesize that socioeconomic heterogeneity, institutional constraints, and ecological feedback can create ecological stress. Our findings support the hypotheses, and the econometric analysis identifies the key drivers of indebtedness among boat owners, which is presented in the dataset.