Impacts of culture survival rate on culture cost and input factors: Case study of the hard clam (Meretrix meretrix) culture in Yunlin County,Taiwan

This study applies a translog cost function model to analyze the culture costs and the use of input factors among three groups of hard clam farmer households in Yunlin County, Taiwan, with different survival rates (low-intermediate, intermediate-high, and high). The study found that farmer household production in the three observed groups all exhibited economies of scale and could significantly expand the scale of production to lower the average cost. For farmer households with high survival rates, production cost could be reduced by 2.16% by a 10% increase in output. Moreover, the study shows that the survival rate–cost interaction values of farmer households in the intermediate-high and low-intermediate survival rate clusters were negative. Therefore, any increase in the survival rate could help lower the culture cost of farmer households. For low-intermediate farmers, the survival rate–cost interaction value was the most negative; any increase in the survival rate by 10% would decrease the cost per hectare by NT$23,424. For high survival-rate households, seeding and capital were substitutes, and seeding and feed were complements. As such, farmers would reduce the use of seeding factors when increasing the use of capital and decreasing the use of feed.