Malmquist Data Envelopment Analysis as a tool to evaluate the Productivity levels of Container Ports in Developing Countries located in East and Southern Africa (original) (raw)
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Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 2021
Background: Ports are one of the assets of every country and one way to achieve efficiency is by maximizing productivity amid limited resources. Despite the increase in the number of studies on the efficiency of container terminals, their focus has been channeled on advanced markets. Researchers conduct limited studies on container terminals in developing countries such as those of the West African region, which are located in a critical geographic place in the international maritime route between these areas and the World. Information on their potential for development relative to other terminals worldwide is therefore not readily available hence, this study seeks to provide answers to critical productivity indicators of ports in the West Africa sub-region. Methods : We evaluate the technical efficiency of the 5 major container terminals in the West African region. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach is used to measure technical efficiency and slack variable analysis which identifies potential areas of improvement for inefficient terminals. Moreover, DEA can handle multiple inputs and outputs, which makes it applicable to the port analysis. Findings: The results indicate that the Tema port is the most efficient port among the sample, with an average efficiency of 100% in the nine years and the Port of Cotonou is the least efficient with an average efficiency of 44% and exhibits substantial waste in production throughout the nine-year analysis. Novelty: This is the first time that the current data from 2010- 2018 has been used to determine port efficiency and the efficiency scores are necessary indicators for terminal managers to adopt and sustain all the necessary alignments to structures and strategies. Keywords: Data envelopment analysis; productivity improvement; efficiency; port management; West Africa
2020
The paper described the essence of evaluating port efficiency using the Data Envelopment Analysis Malmquist Production Index Model. The model was used to examine the drivers of efficiency of 19 Sub-Saharan African Ports for the period of 2008-2015. The importance of ports to the development of nations in Africa makes it expedient to evaluate how efficient ports in sub-Saharan Africa are and what are the drivers of efficiency. The result of the study indicated that the significant drivers of productivity in the ports examined are technical efficiency. A Port continuous improvement framework was developed to assist in improving port performance. The Port continuous improvement framework is essential because the improvement in the port will have a multiplier effect on all the maritime stakeholders and the economy at large.
Assessment of Port Efficiency in West Africa Using Data Envelopment Analysis
American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 2015
The aim of this paper is to apply the DEA method in assessing efficiencies of major ports in West Africa. Six ports were selected based on their container throughput levels, and the DEA model was used to determine their relative efficiencies and their efficiencies over time through window analysis. The DEA model was applied to a number of inputs of port production and a single output (container throughput). It was determined that the Port of Tema in Ghana was the most efficient West African port under study. Although Tema exhibited some inefficiency in its operations, the port was found to make good use of its resources for production. On the other extreme, the Port of Cotonou in Benin was found to be the least efficient port obtaining the lowest average efficiency rating over a seven year period. It was determined that the port exhibited a substantial waste in production. Generally, ports in West Africa could be said to exhibit high levels of efficiency considering that four out of six ports had an average efficiency score of 76% or higher for the period under study.
Logistics & Sustainable Transport, 2015
Seaport efficiency and productivity are the critical factors for handling of goods in the international supply chains and plays an important role in trade exchange with other countries. It is important to evaluate efficiency and productivity of seaports to reflect their status and reveal their position in competitive environment. The main purpose of this article is to use Data Envelopment Analysis and Malmquist Productivity Index to measure the technical efficiency and total factor productivity of container ports. DEA analysis enables one to assess how efficiently a seaports uses the available inputs to generate a set of outputs relative to other units in the data set. This article presents the use CCR and BCC DEA model, to determine overall technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency of container ports. The analysis gives a possibility to create a efficiency ranking of seaports. The study also applies the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI), which was used t...
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.
2019
First and foremost, I would like to thank the reviewer (my supervisor) Prof. Dong-Wook Song and the World Maritime University (WMU) team of staff at large for their helpful comments, valuable contributions and guidance during the course of crafting this paper. Secondly, I am grateful to a number of organizations and officials for their support in sharing performance review reports containing relevant historical data/information for my analysis. These include: Tanzania International Container Terminal Services (TICTS) through Mr. David Talawa (as contact person holding the post of Director of Corporate Services) and Intergovernmental Standing Committee on Shipping (ISCOS) through Mr. Clement W. Kamendu (Director-Shipping, Ports and Freight Services) and Mr. Aderck I. Kagenzi (Programs Manager-Shipping, Ports and Freight Services) Lastly but not least in importance, I would like to register my profound gratitude to the following: The Government of Norway for financial support (through Full United Nations Student Fellowship) and my employer (Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation-TASAC) for nominating my me to join this noble course and approving my request of study leave. Indeed, they have added value to my knowledge of the maritime transport industry and I am quite confident that my career after completing will definitely be more interesting than before.
International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, 2017
This article measures productivity changes during 2009-2014 of the six largest Norwegian container ports against 14 similar small-and medium-sized ports in the Nordic countries and the UK. The approach used is the data envelopment analysis (DEA)-based Malmquist productivity change index (MPI), which carries out a decomposition isolating the technical progress of the efficiency improvement. The major findings are: 1) the sampled Norwegian ports seem to perform better than their international counterparts in terms of efficiency scores; 2) when productivity growth over time is considered, the Norwegian ports appear to be overperformers but a statistical test proves that they are not; 3) overall, total productivity increased by approximately 0.6% per year for all ports considered and this progress is explained more by technological improvements and less by efficiency change, which declined during the period studied. This study provides Norwegian decision makers with new information regarding the performance of Norway's container port industry.
Analyzing the Operational Efficiency of Container Ports in Sub-Saharan Africa
This study presents an evaluation of the relative efficiency of sixteen container ports in Sub-Sahara Africa using three DEA models namely CCR, BCC and Super-Efficiency over the year 2012. The CCR and BCC models are used to estimate the technical and scale efficiency while the super-efficiency technique provides a ranking of efficient ports. The efficiency results indicate that on average the inefficiency observed in the container ports under evaluation is due to scale rather than technical inefficiency. Further, by investigating the nature of the returns to scale, the study concludes that the majority of the container ports exhibit variable returns to scale while fewer experience constant returns to scale in their operations. In order to improve their overall efficiency, the ports showing increasing and decreasing returns to scale need to increase and decrease their size, respectively. Consequently, for container ports to survive in the competitive environment, port authorities should examine their operational scale to identify whether the production size is appropriate or not before making investment decision in terms of inputs resources enhancement or capacity expansion.
Maritime Policy & Management, 2016
During the 1990s, Nigerian seaports were considered inefficient, unsafe due to massive cargo theft (wharf rat phenomenon) and one of the most expensive port systems in the world. This resulted in long turnaround times for ships and increased container dwell times. As a result, port operations were transferred to the private sector through concession contracts. This paper employs a Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) technique to benchmark pre-and post-reform total factor productivity growth of the six major Nigeria seaports (Apapa, Calabar, Onne, Port Harcourt, TinCan Island and Warri) for the period 2000-2011 which represents six years before (2000-2005) and six years after (2006-2011) the reform. The results indicate progress in technical efficiency of the ports after reform but deterioration in technological progress. Overall productivity growth was higher in the pre-concession period compared to the postconcession period. The source of pre-concession period productivity growth was technological progress while the change in productivity of the post-concession period is generated by an increase in scale efficiency. This suggests that concessionaires have not brought in the much anticipated investment in modern technology to drive port efficiency. The ports of Calabar and Apapa experienced the highest productivity growth while lowest result was Onne.
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.