Innovation and Productivity Growth in Norwegian Production of Juvenile Salmonids

The literature on productivity growth in the grow-out phase for salmon is substantial, yet little attention has been given to productivity growth of the input factors. This is despite the fact that a number of innovations have improved quality and reduced prices for many input factors that contribute to the competitiveness of the industry. This article provides an analysis of productivity growth for one key input factor in salmon farming, juvenile salmon. We estimate translog cost functions on salmon hatcheries for the period 1988 to 2010. The econometric analysis shows that innovations and productivity growth have led to a reduction of unit costs in production of salmon juveniles, particularly at earlier stages, but the rate of technical progress has declined in recent years.