Evaluation and optimization of mariculture ecological efficiency under technological heterogeneity — New evidence from China's coastal regions

This paper combines the meta-frontier analysis framework with the SBM-DEA model based on undesirable outputs to thoroughly reveal the mechanism of ecological efficiency differences in China's mariculture. This paper accurately identifies the weak links in ecological efficiency in various regions, thereby achieving a precise evaluation of mariculture ecological efficiency within the framework of technological heterogeneity. The results indicate that under the meta-frontier, the annual average ecological efficiency of mariculture in coastal areas of China during the sample period is 0.586, with a 41.4 % efficiency improvement space. However, under the group frontier, the annual average ecological efficiency is 0.783. The MEI in the BR economic zone and the YRD economic zone respectively stem from MI and TI, whereas in the PRD economic zone, the difference in the proportions of management inefficiency and technological inefficiency is not significant. Finally, this paper proposes four types of improvement paths. •Adopt a model combining meta-frontier analysis and SBM-DEA with undesirable outputs•Reveal the differences and mechanisms in China's mariculture ecological efficiency•Propose four improvement paths for different Chinese provinces•Emphasize promoting coordinated development of mariculture resources and ecology•Offer empirical & theoretical support for tailored mariculture efficiency strategy