Technical efficiency of the Grouper industry in Taiwan. In: Liao, I C. and Leaño, E.M. (eds.)

Abstract

We investigated the production effciency of the grouper culture for the 205 observations sampled from three major culture areas in Taiwan within the time span of 1999 to 2004. The cost structure analysis revealed that feed and seed expenses comprise about 76% of total production cost. If the feed expense is kept constant, a 1% increase in feed use will result in 0.5678%rise in the expected output. Saving the feed cost would, therefore, be of top priority in the future grouper aquaculture. We also estimated the technical efficiency by stochastic frontier model and Cobb-Douglas technological specification. Our estimates showed that the average technical efficiency for the period of 1999-2004 was 0.7976. Most fo the grouper households have their technical efficiencies above the average level which indicates that they are skillful. However, a diversified technical efficiency among households coarsely disclosed that its distribution has been widened within the grouper industry. We recommend more quality and market-oriented supports to narrow the managerial gaps among the growers.