Livelihood Resilience and Economic Shocks: Evidence from Marine Fisher folk Households in Southern India

Livelihood Resilience and Economic Shocks: Evidence from Marine Fisher folk Households in Southern India | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Livelihood Resilience and Economic Shocks: Evidence from Marine Fisher folk Households in Southern India Muhammed Fazil N K This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7303418/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study evaluates the economic viability of marine fisher folk households in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, two major maritime states in southern India. To determine economic resilience's main drivers, the study used mixed methodologies, including Hierarchical Linear Modelling (HLM) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The study uses secondary data from state fishing agencies and a cross-sectional survey of 384 houses. Tamil Nadu fishermen earn more, yet their income is inconsistent, their expenses are high, and government support is inadequate. In contrast, Kerala families enjoy less economic volatility, stronger cooperative networks, higher SHG membership, and better social services. Engagement with institutions, notably SHGs and welfare projects like PMMSY and fisher insurance, boosts enterprise profitability and minimises vulnerability, according to study. Decentralised government and village-level cooperation improve household income stability, according to HLM research. Structural Equation Modelling suggests that net profit, income volatility, educational attainment, debt burden, and health insurance impact resilience implicitly. Resilience depends on institutional inclusion, financial management, and social capital, not financial earnings. Policies highlight the need for community-engaged, localised initiatives rather than infrastructure-centric ones. Enhancing SHG infrastructure, formalising fisher credit, integrating maritime health services, and emphasising resilience-building women are key proposals. This study shows how state-level institutional frameworks might help small-scale fishers achieve an inclusive and resilient livelihood. Development Economics Agricultural Economics & Policy Environmental Economics Other Economics Livelihood resilience Marine fisher folk Kerala Tamil Nadu SHG Welfare Integration HLM SEM Income Volatility Coastal Governance Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7303418","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":496186100,"identity":"0fa7138f-d334-49ce-a183-903719e45dce","order_by":0,"name":"Muhammed Fazil N K","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2ElEQVRIie3QvQrCMBDA8XNyiWSTiEJfISKIg5hXudDBxcHRsQ+guCo+gkuh0Pk2F4trxaVFcBM6dhIbFzcbN8H8pwTuRz4AXK4frBkAUMYAuNnh3IIwqgj2ADqBIdKSAI4BpFmAFWkecsLZRA1Oe11kEjzephrCEAmPvo7TeySqi/W3O/xMFCCRXhIO0yQ0BOWlhjCeB6QfpAabJCrtiPCrH2PUCPkqtjxF3Azx9SZtxSOUov4tjE+vRcEmiq+T6Fwuxh7v1pB34jUpbMdNnL6Zdrlcrn/qCf50R1vJrRs5AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Central University of Karnataka","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Muhammed","middleName":"Fazil N","lastName":"K","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-05 18:39:05","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":true,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true,"humanSubjectConsent":true,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7303418/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7303418/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":88418211,"identity":"bc207688-ff34-4e79-a367-5317b548a36c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-06 09:13:45","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":675245,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"LivelihoodResilienceandEconomicShocks.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7303418/v1_covered_806634df-726e-4e9b-9c16-2c77dc14267e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eLivelihood Resilience and Economic Shocks: Evidence from Marine Fisher folk Households in Southern India\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Central University of Karnataka","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Livelihood resilience, Marine fisher folk, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, SHG, Welfare Integration, HLM, SEM, Income Volatility, Coastal Governance","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7303418/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7303418/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study evaluates the economic viability of marine fisher folk households in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, two major maritime states in southern India. 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