WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEPTEMBER 2019 51 (CONTINUED ON PAGE 72) 65 percent in all countries, except in France where we have 26.2 percent. However, France is a small producer with 2.2 percent of the total European production of cultured sea bass and sea bream. The period of time analyzed was ten years, from 2005 to 2014. Data for this analysis was obtained from the AMADEUS and EUMOFA databases. Technical Efficiency Evaluation The average estimated TE scores over time is shown in Figure 2 and the distributions of firms’ average estimates of TE scores are indicated by decile range in Table 1 and by country in Table 2. Regarding the pattern of TE scores with time (Fig. 2), the annual TE mean declined from 0.92 in 2005 to 0.82 in 2014. Although Mediterranean sea bass and sea bream producers maintained a high value of TE of over 80 percent, the average efficiency of European firms producing cultured sea bass and sea bream in the Mediterranean Sea decreased by 10 percentage units between 2005 and 2014. With regards to distribution of TE scores by deciles (Table 1), there is a concentration of firms with high values, with only one firm operating at a TE of <50 percent. There are 26.7 percent of firms with an average TE score >90 percent and 53.4 percent of firms had a TE score >80 percent. Therefore, we can infer that the average level of TE of European firms producing cultured sea bass and sea bream was very high from 2005-2014 with a mean value of 0.79 (Table 2). In contrast, analysis of TE scores by country (Table 2) indicates wide variation in the average TE among European countries, ranging between 0.50 and 0.95, indicating a wide scope for improvement in TE by firms in some countries. As good examples of this, the TE scores of Italian firms varied from 0.50 to 0.92, with a mean value of 0.74, and the TE scores of Croatian firms ranged from 0.52 to 0.85, with a mean value of 0.68. On average, Greek firms were the most efficient, with a mean TE of 0.92. These firms also indicate a very small variation in their technical efficiency (range = ±0.05 percent). Croatian and Slovenian firms are on average the least productive, with a mean TE of 0.68 and 0.70, respectively. Conclusion The purpose of this work was to evaluate the technical efficiency of European producers of cultured sea bass and sea bream in the Mediterranean Sea from 2005 to 2014 using the stochastic production frontier (SPF) approach. According to the results obtained with our model, the average level of productivity of European firms producing cultured sea bass and sea bream was very high during 2005-2014 with a mean value of 0.79. There has also been a general decrease in TE from 0.92 in 2005 to 0.82 in 2014. On average, Greek and Cypriot firms are the most technically efficient, whereas the Croatian and Slovenian firms are the least efficient. Notes José L. Fernández Sánchez, IDES-UC Research Group, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros 56, 39005 Santander, Spain. Email: jluis. fernandez@unican.es. This work has been carried out with the financial support of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research program, Grant Agreement 727315, MedAID (Mediterranean Aquaculture Integrated Development) project. A more extensive presentation of this work was made during the Aquaculture 2019 Meeting of the World Aquaculture Society in New Orleans, USA. TABLE 2. Distribution of firms’ average estimates of TE scores by country. Country N Mean Min. Max. Range Croatia 4 0.68 0.52 0.85 0.32 Cyprus 2 0.90 0.89 0.90 0.01 France 2 0.81 0.73 0.89 0.16 Greece 7 0.92 0.90 0.95 0.05 Italy 10 0.74 0.50 0.92 0.42 Slovenia 1 0.70 0.70 0.70 0.00 Spain 4 0.80 0.74 0.88 0.15 All countries 30 0.79 0.50 0.95 0.45 TABLE 1. Distribution of firms’ average estimates of TE scores by decile range. TE score Frequency Percent Cumulative percent 0.00 – 0.50 1 3.3 3.3 0.51 – 0.60 2 6.7 10.0 0.61 – 0.70 3 10.0 20.0 0.71 – 0.80 8 26.7 46.7 0.81 – 0.90 8 26.7 73.3 0.91 – 1.00 8 26.7 100.0
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