Intracultural Variation: Decline and Diversity in North Pacific Fisheries

Abstract

Measures other than central tendency are required to develop theories of intracultural diversity. To measure the distribution of wealth, behavior, or ideas in a population, statistical measures of variation can be used. Equity and diversity measures for the distribution of wealth are proposed using the skew and kurtosis statistics. Historical data for four North Pacific fisheries indicate that associated with resource decline is greater inequity and less diversity in the distribution of fish harvested and income to fishermen and fish processors.