Ranking and causes of inefficiency of container seaports in South-Eastern Europe (original) (raw)

The efficiency of European container ports: A cross-sectional data envelopment analysis

International Journal of Logistics, 2006

This paper focuses on measuring the efficiency of container terminals in Europe using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. Container terminals in Europe play an important role in the region's economic development and, as the result of their geographic concentration, face fierce competition compared with the rest of the world. Despite this, studies of the efficiency of container terminals in the region are minimal. As a basis for further research, this paper serves to supplement existing studies by deriving estimates of relative efficiency for a sample comprising 69 of Europe's container terminals with annual throughput of over 10,000 TEUs. The scale properties of container terminal production are also considered as part of the study, as is the relationship of efficiency to geographical influence.

Efficiency Analysis of Mediterranean Container Ports

Journal of ETA Maritime Science, 2018

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the technical efficiency (productivity) of Mediterranean container ports by employing the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. In recent years, maritime transportation volume has been increasing with the trend of trade globalization. This tendency has positive effects on container cargo flows. Accordingly, container terminals have incessant expansions to meet this growing demand. However, before making an investment in the terminal area or handling equipment, efficiency evaluation is required to reveal optimal throughput with the present resources. As the Mediterranean Basin is an important region for container transportation, there should be studies on the efficiency of container terminals in this region. In this study, relative efficiency analysis is conducted for Mediterranean container ports which are on the list of world busiest container ports based on the year 2016 data. The findings show that subjected container terminals can increase their output by 1,47 times without expanding their inputs. Efficiency is slightly increasing from eastern through the western part of this region.

Evaluating port efficiency in the Mediterranean

International Journal of Data Analysis Techniques and Strategies, 2013

During the last years, there was rapid development in the world port industry which is considered to have resulted from the increase of universal trade. The key to the development of each port is its adaptability to the earliest developments and its resistance to the increasing competition. The influence zones of each port are characterised by instability, while each port authority aims at the creation and exploitation of competitive assets, setting store on specialisation and increase of productivity of each port's functions. The aims of this study are the comparative efficiency evaluation of ports in the Mediterranean with the use of DEA analysis, the exploitation of the factors that affect ports' efficiency using a second-stage Tobit analysis and the potential of each port in the era of larger container volumes attraction. The study will focus on the ports which display or are able to display significant achievement in transhipment movement.

Efficiency analysis and benchmarking of container ports operating in lower-middle-income countries: a DEA approach

Journal of shipping and trade, 2024

Container ports play a pivotal role in international trade, facilitating the movement of goods and fostering economic development. While much attention has been given to the efficiency of ports in high-income countries, container ports in lowermiddle-income (LMI) countries have received less attention. This paper addresses this research gap by assessing container ports' operational efficiency across diverse LMI countries and determining ways for their efficiency enhancement and management optimization. The cross-sectional data for the year 2012 was collected for 53 container ports in LMI countries. This research utilizes data envelopment analysis, which offers the advantage of considering multiple inputs and outputs. The results show that the overall technical inefficiencies of LMI countries' container ports are mainly due to pure technical inefficiency rather than scale inefficiencies, and the most efficient ports have a combination of large and hub ports. They also reveal that larger ports (as measured by throughput) are not necessarily more efficient than ports with a small production scale. The results of this research can provide government authorities, port authorities, terminal operators, and investors with valuable insights into resource allocation, competitive advantage, and optimization of operating performance.

Assessing the Middle East Top Container Ports Relative Technical Efficiency

Journal of Maritime & Transportation Science

Middle East main container ports are developing rapidly with a lot of investments. This is due to their geographical location in the main East-West trade route. Accordingly, it is important to assess their relative technical efficiency to make them visible and stand out in such a development. This research will assess the relative technical efficiency based on the infrastructure of the main container ports in the Middle East by the aid of data envelopment analysis (DEA) for the year 2017. This will be performed by using the DEA four models based on the input oriented mode CCR model, BCC model, Supper efficiency and the Slack variable analyses. Results of the research highlight that nearly 80% of the studied ports are, with an increasing return to scale approach to the study ports, suffering from a surplus in their infrastructure that should be considered in future investments.

Seaport performance comparison using data envelopment analysis: The case of Iberian container terminals

International Journal of Business Performance Management, 2012

The purpose of this paper is to assess the performance of the main Iberian container terminals in terms of efficiency. In this research are used multiple case studies to investigate the performance of ten Iberian terminals of different sizes and with different characteristics to rank them in terms of efficiency applying the recursive DEA with Kohonen Self-Organisation Maps (KSOM). The results evidence that the container terminals do have different performance levels and they present different patterns of efficiency. Moreover, the findings allow identifying the better competitor in this industry. This research contributes for policy-makers, seaport authorities, dealers, and researchers to support their decision making and to help define future decision policies in seaport industry. The results are very opportune in actual debate about the seaport industry competitiveness and how the seaports could improve their efficiency.

Relative efficiencies of seaport container terminals: a DEA perspective

International Journal of Integrated Supply Management, 2005

With the rapid growth of containerisation in world maritime trade, container terminals have undertaken heavier tasks and more important roles to achieve better service quality and agility in the supply chain. Container terminals operate in a fierce competitive environment of international character. Their rivals are their neighbouring ports/seaport terminals, and/or similar facilities within their hinterlands. To accomplish the competitive advantage in global shipping, port managers have undertaken more effort continuously to improve their terminal productivity. However, to sustain competition in their favour it is also essential for managers to undertake benchmarking with the competing terminals. The aim of this paper is to guide port managers to benchmark their organisational performances with their competitors; thereby making necessary arrangements to use their resources more effectively. In this connection, 10 seaport terminals lyingon the coast of the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean rim are taken as decision-making units and data envelopment analysis (DEA) is applied to measure and evaluate their relative performances.

The impact of competition on container port (in)efficiency

There are many studies on container port efficiency and that seek to understand what factors , such as technical and scale efficiency, private versus public terminal management or macroeconomic factors, play on the efficiency score of a given port. There are fewer studies that focus on the role played by the inter-port competitive environment. This role remains difficult to assess. In fact, on the one hand, a port subject to high inter-port competition may record higher efficiency scores due to the pressure from the competitive environment. On the other hand, a port subject to high competition may be forced to over-invest and could therefore records a lower efficiency score. This article investigates this issue and examines how the degree of competition measured at different levels (local, regional and global level) impacts the efficiency score of a given container port. To do so, we implement a truncated regression with a parametric bootstrapping model. The model applied to information gathered for 200 container ports in 2007 and 2010 leads to the following conclusions: port efficiency decreases with competition intensity when measured in a range of 400–800 km (regional level); and the effect from competition is not significant when competition is measured at a local (less than 300 km) or at a global (more than 800 km) level. Estimates also show a tendency for ports who invested from 2007 to 2010 to experience a general decrease in efficiency scores, an element which could be explained by the time lag between the investment and the subsequent potential increase in container throughput.