Does specialization affect the efficiency of small-scale fishing boats?

Abstract

We use a stochastic frontier approach to estimate the technology and the technical efficiency of a sample of small-scale fishing boats in the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. Using a model that allows for the determinants of inefficiency, we find that boat efficiency increases with boat size while it is inversely related to the age of the vessel. We pay special attention to the specialization of the fishing boats. For this purpose, we include two variables: one that measures the specialization in few species and another one that reflects technological specialization, which is measured as the inverse of the number of different types of gears used. We find that both variables reduce the technical efficiency of fishing boats.