IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/juipol/v96y2025ics0957178725001249.html

Internalizing CO2 emissions in Spanish port efficiency analysis: A stochastic frontier approach with policy insights

Author

Listed:
  • Rodríguez, Andrea
  • Trujillo, Lourdes

Abstract

Recent regulatory changes have impacted the European Union (EU) maritime sector. This study evaluates the effect of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on the production frontier and Technical Efficiency (TE) of cargo handling services in Spain's 23 largest ports. Using the Material Balance Theorem, we justify the inclusion of CO2 in a stochastic frontier model. Results show that accounting for emissions increases the weight of quasi-fixed inputs and reduces average inefficiency. These findings suggest that the new EU Maritime regulation (FuelEU and ETS) could help to internalize environmental externalities in port operations.

Suggested Citation

  • Rodríguez, Andrea & Trujillo, Lourdes, 2025. "Internalizing CO2 emissions in Spanish port efficiency analysis: A stochastic frontier approach with policy insights," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:96:y:2025:i:c:s0957178725001249
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2025.102009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957178725001249
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jup.2025.102009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Figueiredo De Oliveira, Gabriel & Cariou, Pierre, 2015. "The impact of competition on container port (in)efficiency," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 124-133.
    2. Rodríguez, Andrea & Mar Cerbán, M. & Trujillo, Lourdes, 2025. "Geopolitical and competition analysis: The case of Western African ports and the port of Las Palmas in the mid-Atlantic European Islands," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    3. Rodríguez-Álvarez, Ana & Tovar, Beatriz, 2012. "Have Spanish port sector reforms during the last two decades been successful? A cost frontier approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 73-82.
    4. María Manuela González & Lourdes Trujillo, 2009. "Efficiency Measurement in the Port Industry: A Survey of the Empirical Evidence," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 43(2), pages 157-192, May.
    5. Núñez-Sánchez, Ramón & Coto-Millán, Pablo, 2012. "The impact of public reforms on the productivity of Spanish ports: A parametric distance function approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 99-108.
    6. Cheon, SangHyun & Dowall, David E. & Song, Dong-Wook, 2010. "Evaluating impacts of institutional reforms on port efficiency changes: Ownership, corporate structure, and total factor productivity changes of world container ports," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 546-561, July.
    7. Martínez-Moya, Julián & Feo-Valero, María, 2020. "Measuring foreland container port connectivity disaggregated by destination markets: An index for Short Sea Shipping services in Spanish ports," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Young-Tae Chang, 2013. "Environmental efficiency of ports: a Data Envelopment Analysis approach," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(5), pages 467-478, September.
    9. Pérez, Ivone & González, María Manuela & Trujillo, Lourdes, 2020. "Do specialisation and port size affect port efficiency? Evidence from cargo handling service in Spanish ports," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 234-249.
    10. Choi, Yongrok & Zhang, Ning & Zhou, P., 2012. "Efficiency and abatement costs of energy-related CO2 emissions in China: A slacks-based efficiency measure," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 198-208.
    11. Gabriel Figueiredo de Oliveira & Pierre Cariou, 2015. "The impact of competition on container port (in)efficiency [L'impact de la concurrence sur l'(in)efficacité des ports à conteneurs]," Post-Print hal-05241975, HAL.
    12. Lee, Taehwee & Yeo, Gi-Tae & Thai, Vinh V., 2014. "Environmental efficiency analysis of port cities: Slacks-based measure data envelopment analysis approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 82-88.
    13. Ducruet, César, 2020. "The geography of maritime networks: A critical review," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    14. Udo Ebert & Heinz Welsch, 2007. "Environmental Emissions and Production Economics: Implications of the Materials Balance," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 89(2), pages 287-293.
    15. Kevin Cullinane & Dong-Wook Song & Tengfei Wang, 2005. "The Application of Mathematical Programming Approaches to Estimating Container Port Production Efficiency," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 73-92, September.
    16. Chang, Young-Tae & Zhang, Ning & Danao, Denise & Zhang, Nan, 2013. "Environmental efficiency analysis of transportation system in China: A non-radial DEA approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 277-283.
    17. Ana Rodríguez-Álvarez & Beatriz Tovar & Alan Wall, 2011. "The Effect of Demand Uncertainty on Port Terminal Costs," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 45(2), pages 303-328, May.
    18. Lauwers, Ludwig, 2009. "Justifying the incorporation of the materials balance principle into frontier-based eco-efficiency models," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1605-1614, April.
    19. Suárez-Alemán, Ancor & Morales Sarriera, Javier & Serebrisky, Tomás & Trujillo, Lourdes, 2016. "When it comes to container port efficiency, are all developing regions equal?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 56-77.
    20. Eskeland, Gunnar S. & Harrison, Ann E., 2003. "Moving to greener pastures? Multinationals and the pollution haven hypothesis," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 1-23, February.
    21. Pablo Coto-Millan & Jose Banos-Pino & Ana Rodriguez-Alvarez, 2000. "Economic efficiency in Spanish ports: some empirical evidence," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(2), pages 169-174, April.
    22. Serebrisky, Tomás & Sarriera, Javier Morales & Suárez-Alemán, Ancor & Araya, Gonzalo & Briceño-Garmendía, Cecilia & Schwartz, Jordan, 2016. "Exploring the drivers of port efficiency in Latin America and the Caribbean," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 31-45.
    23. Yuen, Andrew Chi-lok & Zhang, Anming & Cheung, Waiman, 2013. "Foreign participation and competition: A way to improve the container port efficiency in China?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 220-231.
    24. Na, Joon-Ho & Choi, A-Young & Ji, Jianhua & Zhang, Dali, 2017. "Environmental efficiency analysis of Chinese container ports with CO2 emissions: An inseparable input-output SBM model," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 13-24.
    25. Yip, Tsz Leung & Sun, Xin Yu & Liu, John J., 2011. "Group and individual heterogeneity in a stochastic frontier model: Container terminal operators," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 213(3), pages 517-525, September.
    26. Le, Stephanie & Jeffrey, Scott & An, Henry, 2020. "Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Technical Efficiency in Alberta Dairy Production: What Are the Trade-Offs?," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(2), pages 177-193, May.
    27. Villalba, Gara & Gemechu, Eskinder Demisse, 2011. "Estimating GHG emissions of marine ports--the case of Barcelona," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1363-1368, March.
    28. César Ducruet, 2020. "The geography of maritime networks : a critical review," Post-Print hal-03246890, HAL.
    29. Fare, Rolf, 1989. "Multilateral Productivity Comparisons When Some Outputs Are Undesirable: A Nonparametric Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(1), pages 90-98, February.
    30. Cullinane Kevin & Song Dong-Wook & Ji Ping & Wang Teng-Fei, 2004. "An Application of DEA Windows Analysis to Container Port Production Efficiency," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 3(2), pages 1-23, June.
    31. Baumol,William J. & Oates,Wallace E., 1988. "The Theory of Environmental Policy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521322249, January.
    32. Cropper, Maureen L & Oates, Wallace E, 1992. "Environmental Economics: A Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 30(2), pages 675-740, June.
    33. Liao, Chun-Hsiung & Tseng, Po-Hsing & Cullinane, Kevin & Lu, Chin-Shan, 2010. "The impact of an emerging port on the carbon dioxide emissions of inland container transport: An empirical study of Taipei port," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 5251-5257, September.
    34. Tovar, Beatriz & Wall, Alan, 2022. "The relationship between port-level maritime connectivity and efficiency," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    35. Notteboom, Theo & Verhoeven, Patrick, 2010. "The awarding of seaport terminals to private operators: European practices and policy implications," European Transport \ Trasporti Europei, ISTIEE, Institute for the Study of Transport within the European Economic Integration, issue 45, pages 83-101.
    36. Cullinane, Kevin & Wang, Teng-Fei & Song, Dong-Wook & Ji, Ping, 2006. "The technical efficiency of container ports: Comparing data envelopment analysis and stochastic frontier analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 354-374, May.
    37. Wen‐Kai K. Hsu & Show‐Hui S. Huang & Nguyen Tan Huynh & Kuan‐Han Huang, 2024. "An evaluation model of sustainable efficiency for container terminals," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 1170-1187, February.
    38. Baumgartner, Stefan & Dyckhoff, Harald & Faber, Malte & Proops, John & Schiller, Johannes, 2001. "The concept of joint production and ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 365-372, March.
    39. Martínez-Moya, Julián & Vazquez-Paja, Barbara & Gimenez Maldonado, Jose Andrés, 2019. "Energy efficiency and CO2 emissions of port container terminal equipment: Evidence from the Port of Valencia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 312-319.
    40. Battese, G E & Coelli, T J, 1995. "A Model for Technical Inefficiency Effects in a Stochastic Frontier Production Function for Panel Data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 325-332.
    41. Forsund, Finn R., 2009. "Good Modelling of Bad Outputs: Pollution and Multiple-Output Production," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 3(1), pages 1-38, August.
    42. Meeusen, Wim & van den Broeck, Julien, 1977. "Efficiency Estimation from Cobb-Douglas Production Functions with Composed Error," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 18(2), pages 435-444, June.
    43. Bichou, Khalid, 2013. "An empirical study of the impacts of operating and market conditions on container-port efficiency and benchmarking," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 28-37.
    44. Aigner, Dennis & Lovell, C. A. Knox & Schmidt, Peter, 1977. "Formulation and estimation of stochastic frontier production function models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 21-37, July.
    45. Kumbhakar,Subal C. & Lovell,C. A. Knox, 2003. "Stochastic Frontier Analysis," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521666633, January.
    46. Tim Coelli & Ludwig Lauwers & Guido Huylenbroeck, 2007. "Environmental efficiency measurement and the materials balance condition," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 3-12, October.
    47. Gang Dong & Jing Zhu & Jin Li & Handong Wang & Yuvraj Gajpal, 2019. "Evaluating the Environmental Performance and Operational Efficiency of Container Ports: An Application to the Maritime Silk Road," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-15, June.
    48. González, MarI´a Manuela & Trujillo, Lourdes, 2008. "Reforms and infrastructure efficiency in Spain's container ports," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 243-257, January.
    49. César Ducruet, 2020. "The geography of maritime networks: A critical review," Post-Print halshs-02922543, HAL.
    50. Mustafa U. Karakaplan, 2022. "Panel stochastic frontier models with endogeneity," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 22(3), pages 643-663, September.
    51. Marco Fugazza & Jan Hoffmann, 2017. "Liner shipping connectivity as determinant of trade," Journal of Shipping and Trade, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-18, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Efecan, Volkan & Temiz, İzzettin, 2023. "Assessing the technical efficiency of container ports based on a non-monotonic inefficiency effects model," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. Merkel, Axel & Holmgren, Johan, 2017. "Dredging the depths of knowledge: Efficiency analysis in the maritime port sector," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 63-74.
    3. Pérez, Ivone & Trujillo, Lourdes & González, María Manuela, 2016. "Efficiency determinants of container terminals in Latin American and the Caribbean," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-14.
    4. Pérez, Ivone & González, María Manuela & Trujillo, Lourdes, 2020. "Do specialisation and port size affect port efficiency? Evidence from cargo handling service in Spanish ports," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 234-249.
    5. Evelin Krmac & Mozhgan Mansouri Kaleibar, 2023. "A comprehensive review of data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology in port efficiency evaluation," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 25(4), pages 817-881, December.
    6. Wu, Zhen, 2025. "Examination of inland port technical efficiency and its spillover patterns: Evidence from the Yangtze River region," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 595-614.
    7. Zhang, Jing & Yang, Dong & Luo, Meifeng, 2024. "Port efficiency types and perspectives: A literature review," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 13-24.
    8. Quintano, Claudio & Mazzocchi, Paolo & Rocca, Antonella, 2021. "Evaluation of the eco-efficiency of territorial districts with seaport economic activities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    9. Nicole Adler & Georg Hirte & Shravana Kumar & Hans-Martin Niemeier, 2022. "The impact of specialization, ownership, competition and regulation on efficiency: a case study of Indian seaports," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 24(3), pages 507-536, September.
    10. Claudio Quintano & Paolo Mazzocchi & Antonella Rocca, 2020. "A competitive analysis of EU ports by fixing spatial and economic dimensions," Journal of Shipping and Trade, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, December.
    11. Laxe, Fernando González & Bermúdez, Federico Martín & Prado Domínguez, Antonio Javier, 2021. "Are Spanish ports efficient and profitable? A quantitative analysis," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    12. Tovar, Beatriz & Wall, Alan, 2022. "The relationship between port-level maritime connectivity and efficiency," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    13. Shilin Ye & Xinhua Qi & Yecheng Xu, 2020. "Analyzing the relative efficiency of China’s Yangtze River port system," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 22(4), pages 640-660, December.
    14. Serebrisky, Tomás & Sarriera, Javier Morales & Suárez-Alemán, Ancor & Araya, Gonzalo & Briceño-Garmendía, Cecilia & Schwartz, Jordan, 2016. "Exploring the drivers of port efficiency in Latin America and the Caribbean," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 31-45.
    15. Finn R. Førsund, 2018. "Multi-equation modelling of desirable and undesirable outputs satisfying the materials balance," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 67-99, February.
    16. López-Bermúdez, Beatriz & Freire-Seoane, María Jesús & Nieves-Martínez, Diego José, 2019. "Port efficiency in Argentina from 2012 to 2017: An ally for sustained economic growth," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    17. Tovar, Beatriz & Wall, Alan, 2015. "Can ports increase traffic while reducing inputs? Technical efficiency of Spanish Port Authorities using a directional distance function approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 128-140.
    18. Jeanneaux, Philippe & Latruffe, Laure, 2016. "Modelling pollution-generating technologies in performance benchmarking: Recent developments, limits and future prospects in the nonparametric frameworkAuthor-Name: Dakpo, K. Hervé," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 250(2), pages 347-359.
    19. López-Bermúdez, Beatriz & Freire-Seoane, María Jesús & González-Laxe, Fernando, 2019. "Efficiency and productivity of container terminals in Brazilian ports (2008–2017)," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 82-91.
    20. Chang, Víctor & Tovar, Beatriz, 2014. "Drivers explaining the inefficiency of Peruvian and Chilean ports terminals," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 190-203.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:96:y:2025:i:c:s0957178725001249. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/utilities-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.