Size and specialization as determinant of iberian port performance: new methodology to group different ports (original) (raw)
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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.
The purpose of this study is to analyze the performance of a port through its characterizing factors and understand their importance. Both Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and statistics of factor analysis were used, as well as linear regression. Based on a sample of 43 European ports, the results of this study indicate the existence of a relationship between performance and several variables that characterize the port. Additionally, they also confirm the impact of location, governance, size, infrastructure, specialization, logistic integration and maritime services in the ports operational and financial performance and efficiency.
Are larger and more complex port more productive? An analysis of Spanish port authorities
Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2019
Several Spanish ports have grown substantially in recent decades. Ports in Spain are heterogeneous in that they differ substantially in terms of complexity, size and traffic mix. We measure the productivity of Spanish port authorities and identify the drivers of productivity taking into account this heterogeneity in order to provide more meaningful estimates of efficiency and productivity change. Using a sample of 26 ports observed over the period 1993-2016, we classify these ports into two different groups according to their overall size and their importance in terms of individual outputs. Segregating the sample into these two distinct groups permits us to draw a more precise picture of the consequences for productivity of the changes that have occurred in the sector in Spain over the last quarter of a century. Using Data Envelopment Analysis techniques, we calculate and decompose Malmquist productivity indexes using a metafrontier analysis. We use these indexes to estimate an Arellano-Bond Generalised Method Moments model to explain the differences in productivity change. Our results show that the group of large and complex port authorities had a considerable technological advantage, being closer to the metafrontier on average than the other group. Relative size, which can be interpreted as a measure of complexity of the port authority, has a strong positive influence on productivity growth. Specialisation in solids, container cargo and general bulk also increased productivity growth, but specialisation in liquids has no effect.
Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2020
Specialisation is a common strategy followed by ports to face the challenges of globalisation, changes in the naval industry and maritime operations. The main objective of this research is to determine if specialisation and size of ports have an impact on port efficiency. We estimate the efficiency of 27 Spanish ports during the 2001-2011 period using a parametric distance function approach. Our results show that larger and more specialised ports are more highly efficient. From an economics policy perspective, the recommendation would be to encourage the specialisation of ports where possible, and collaboration between ports with different specialisations, as well as those of smaller sizes. This would allow the development of strategic planning that favours coordination between ports, the joint development of infrastructure, and the avoidance of service duplication. This study is a pioneer in estimating the efficiency of the cargo handling service of the Spanish port system including port dockers to measure the labour input, as well as specialisation and size indicators to assess their relevance as drivers of port efficiency.
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.
2019
In peripheral port markets, a limited volume of traffic creates challenges in sustaining multiple competing Port Authorities (PAs). With a limited size, smaller ports have difficulty in attracting the necessary traffic flows to leverage capital for development. In many European jurisdictions, recent policy reform has sought to concentrate resources in dominant ports or amalgamate smaller PAs to increase competitiveness and rationalize investments. This paper formally examines the link between port size and achievable efficiencies through an efficiency analysis of Irish and Atlantic Spanish ports. To achieve this, the paper applies a two-step double bootstrap Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach to examine the effect of relative size on technical efficiency across the two port systems in the period 2000-2015. The results indicate a positive relationship between size and technical efficiency amongst ports in peripheral regions. As the time-period covers the financial crisis, it is...
In this research paper four sea ports namely, Tanger Med, Algeciras Bay, Rotterdam and New York-New Jersey has been taken into study to understand and evaluate their efficiency of operations and benchmark them. Port efficiency is the measure of amount of input and output and their ratio. Port efficiency is not solely dependent on port performance. The port performance strategies of the case ports were studied and efficiency variables were found through various literatures. To analyze input and output variables of the ports, efficiency software named Data Envelopment Analysis Program was used to find the most efficient ports. Then the variables for the most efficient ports were benchmarked and ranked. A hypothetical port efficiency model has also been suggested for better efficiency of the ports, especially for the maritime lines of the Tanger Med port.
Measuring West-Africa Ports Efficiency Using Data Envelopment Analysis
Journal of Transportation Technologies, 2019
The present study measured the relative efficiency of five major commercial ports in West Africa, using three different Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methods, the CCR, BCC, and Windows I-C methods over the years 2005-2016. Seven input variables and one output variable were used in the model analysis. The CCR and BCC methods were used to evaluate the technical and scale efficiency while the Windows I-C method provided a comprehensive ranking of the studied ports. The results showed that the scale efficiency score of 89.53% indicated that on average the production scale of the ports had deviated from the most productive scale size (MPSS) by 10.47%. These results revealed that the source of the overall inefficiency is due to scale rather than pure technical inefficiency. Hence, in order to improve the overall efficiency, the two scaled inefficient ports of Abidjan and Cotonou should adjust their scale of operations. Then, further investigations were conducted to detect correlations between various variables used in this study. The research found that the absence of any correlation for non-significant variables and negative correlation for the significant variables throughout time resulted from the fact that these variables were not fully utilized. Meaning that they were not efficiently used to boost the container throughput on a scale basis, the research also found that a pandemic or insecurity could easily impact seaports activities with the case of the Ebola outbreak which strucked the West African region from the year 2013 to 2016, or the terrorism threats which prevailed in the region around the year 2012. Thus, for ports to stand out in the present fiercely competitive environment, ports authorities ought to analyze their operational scale to identify whether or not the production size is fitting before further port capacity expansion.
Efficiency Measurement of US Ports Using Data Envelopment Analysis
Container transportation plays a key role in the process largely because of the numerous technical and economic advantages it provides over traditional methods of water transportation. Compared with traditional port operations, containerization has greatly improved performance of port production. Many container ports no longer enjoy the freedom yielded by a monopoly over the handling of cargo from within their vicinity. Instead, not only they are concerned with whether they can physically handle cargo, but also whether they can compete for that cargo. This paper aims to analyze port productivity using Data Envelopment Analysis technique. Two main results are presented. First, an efficient frontier or a set of the best practice ports is identified, which inefficient ports may want to emulate. Second, the sources and extent of inefficiency on which an inefficient port should focus in order to improve their operations are determined.
Performance Evaluation of the Portuguese Seaports Evaluation in the European Context
2007
A global reform of the Portuguese port sector favoured the involvement of private operators in the provision of port services. The port system comprises five major ports, each managed by an independent Port Authority. These were set up as limited liability companies with all their shares held by the State. Port services are gradually being passed on to private operators through concession contracts. The Portuguese and three other countries port sectors were analysed in terms of regulatory policy, governance model, institutional setting and scale and type of operations. The analysed countries were Spain, because it is our main competitor, and the Netherlands and the UK, whose ports had the top scores in the performance measurement procedure carried out. In this procedure reliability and coherence were stressed in order to achieve realistic and useful results. All the options in the performance analysis were thoroughly discussed and justified. Forty one ports from eleven European countries were included in the sample. The study relied on input oriented Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models, using as inputs Operational Expenses (OPEX) and Capital Expenses (CAPEX); and as outputs conventional general cargo, containerized cargo, roll on-roll off cargo, dry bulk cargo, liquid bulk cargo and passengers. All the Portuguese ports had very low efficiency scores except Lisbon which was deemed as efficient due to a very high volume of passenger traffic. The possible cost reduction if the Portuguese seaports had performed efficiently was estimated about 64 million euros in 2005.