IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/marecl/v22y2020i4d10.1057_s41278-019-00135-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the role of port efficiency as a determinant of maritime transport costs: evidence from Canada

Author

Listed:
  • Qiao Lei

    (University of Waterloo)

  • Chris Bachmann

    (University of Waterloo)

Abstract

The primary objective of this paper is to determine the role of port efficiency in determining a port’s associated maritime transport costs using direct and disaggregate measures, such as average truck turnaround time, berth utilization, and vessel turnaround time. Ports are complex places difficult to characterize by a single measure of efficiency. Port efficiency is better assessed by measuring the performance of a port’s constituent activities. Prior studies on port efficiency have primarily relied on indirect and aggregate measures of port efficiency, such as scores from the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report or from data envelopment analysis. In the work presented herein, 11 port utilization indicators, collected over 6 years at Canada’s three leading container ports (Vancouver, Montreal, and Halifax), are used to econometrically estimate the unique impact and elasticity of each indicator on import and export container freight rates. Results suggest that higher berth utilization, longer truck turnaround times, longer container dwell times, and longer vessel turnaround times are associated with higher container freight rates (with elasticities ranging from 0.05 to 0.49). On the other hand, higher container throughputs, more vessel calls, and more containers, loaded and unloaded, per vessel are associated with lower container freight rates (with elasticities ranging from −0.07 to −0.53).

Suggested Citation

  • Qiao Lei & Chris Bachmann, 2020. "Assessing the role of port efficiency as a determinant of maritime transport costs: evidence from Canada," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 22(4), pages 562-584, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:marecl:v:22:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1057_s41278-019-00135-5
    DOI: 10.1057/s41278-019-00135-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41278-019-00135-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41278-019-00135-5?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ricardo J Sánchez & Jan Hoffmann & Alejandro Micco & Georgina V Pizzolitto & Martín Sgut & Gordon Wilmsmeier, 2003. "Port Efficiency and International Trade: Port Efficiency as a Determinant of Maritime Transport Costs," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 5(2), pages 199-218, June.
    2. Micco, Alejandro & Pérez, Natalia, 2002. "Determinants of Maritime Transport Costs," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 3700, Inter-American Development Bank.
    3. Clark, Ximena & Dollar, David & Micco, Alejandro, 2004. "Port efficiency, maritime transport costs, and bilateral trade," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 417-450, December.
    4. Gordon Wilmsmeier & Jan Hoffmann, 2008. "Liner Shipping Connectivity and Port Infrastructure as Determinants of Freight Rates in the Caribbean," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 10(1-2), pages 130-151, March.
    5. Hummels, David & Lugovskyy, Volodymyr & Skiba, Alexandre, 2009. "The trade reducing effects of market power in international shipping," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 84-97, May.
    6. Herrera Dappe,Matias & Jooste,Charl & Suarez Aleman,Ancor, 2017. "How does port efficiency affect maritime transport costs and trade ? evidence from Indian and western Pacific Ocean countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8204, The World Bank.
    7. Wilmsmeier, Gordon & Hoffmann, Jan & Sanchez, Ricardo J., 2006. "The Impact of Port Characteristics on International Maritime Transport Costs," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 117-140, January.
    8. Abe, Kazutomo & Wilson, John S., 2009. "Weathering the storm : investing in port infrastructure to lower trade costs in East Asia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4911, The World Bank.
    9. Hercules E. Haralambides, 2019. "Gigantism in container shipping, ports and global logistics: a time-lapse into the future," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 21(1), pages 1-60, March.
    10. Abe , Kazutomo & Wilson, John S., 2011. "Investing in Port Infrastructure to Lower Trade Costs in East Asia," East Asian Economic Review, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, vol. 15(2), pages 3-32, June.
    11. Alejandro Micco & Natalia Perez, 2002. "Determinants of Maritime Transport Costs," Research Department Publications 4247, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    12. Hercules Haralambides, 2017. "Globalization, public sector reform, and the role of ports in international supply chains," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 19(1), pages 1-51, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Enock Kojo Ayesu & Daniel Sakyi & Alexander Bilson Darku, 2023. "Seaport efficiency, port throughput, and economic growth in Africa," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 25(3), pages 479-498, September.
    2. Courage Mlambo, 2021. "The Impact of Port Performance on Trade: The Case of Selected African States," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-18, September.
    3. Martínez-Moya, Julián & Mestre-Alcover, Amparo & Sala-Garrido, Ramón & Furió-Pruñonosa, Salvador, 2024. "Are transhipment ports more efficient in the Mediterranean Sea? Analysing the role of time at ports using DEA metafrontier approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).

    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. Borchert, Ingo & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2016. "The trade reducing effects of restrictions on liner shippingAuthor-Name: Bertho, Fabien," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 231-242.
    2. Jan Hoffmann & Naima Saeed & Sigbjørn Sødal, 2020. "Liner shipping bilateral connectivity and its impact on South Africa’s bilateral trade flows," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 22(3), pages 473-499, September.
    3. Jan Hoffmann & Naima Saeed & Sigbjørn Sødal, 0. "Liner shipping bilateral connectivity and its impact on South Africa’s bilateral trade flows," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 0, pages 1-27.
    4. Thomas Orliac, 2012. "The economics of trade facilitation [L'économie de la facilitation des échanges]," SciencePo Working papers Main tel-03681980, HAL.
    5. Jimenez, Manuel, 2020. "Trade Costs and Mark-Ups in Maritime Shipping," Conference papers 333182, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    6. Patricia Sourdin & Richard Pomfret, 2012. "Trade Facilitation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14596.
    7. De Oliveira, Gabriel Figueiredo, 2014. "Determinants of European freight rates: The role of market power and trade imbalance," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 23-33.
    8. Pierre CARIOU & Gabriel FIGUEIREDO DE OLIVEIRA, 2015. "Les Déterminants De L'Efficience Portuaire : Une Analyse Des Ports À Conteneurs Méditerranéens," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 41, pages 83-99.
    9. Laura Márquez-Ramos & Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso & Eva Pérez-García & Gordon Wilmsmeier, 2011. "“Special Issue on Latin-American Research” Maritime Networks, Services Structure and Maritime Trade," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 555-576, September.
    10. Wilmsmeier, Gordon & Sanchez, Ricardo J., 2009. "The relevance of international transport costs on food prices: Endogenous and exogenous effects," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 56-66.
    11. Wilmsmeier Gordon & Sánchez Ricardo J., 2010. "Evolution of shipping networks: Current challenges in emerging markets," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 54(1), pages 180-193, October.
    12. Richard Pomfret & Patricia Sourdin, 2010. "Why do trade costs vary?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 146(4), pages 709-730, December.
    13. Ardelean,Adina Teodora & Lugovskyy,Volodymyr & Skiba,Alexandre & Terner,David Michael, 2022. "Fathoming Shipping Costs : An Exploration of Recent Literature, Data, and Patterns," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9992, The World Bank.
    14. John S. Hill & Myung-Su Chae & Jinseo Park, 2012. "The Effects of Geography and Infrastructure on Economic Development and International Business Involvement," Journal of Infrastructure Development, India Development Foundation, vol. 4(2), pages 91-113, December.
    15. Courage Mlambo, 2021. "The Impact of Port Performance on Trade: The Case of Selected African States," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-18, September.
    16. Marco FUGAZZA & Jan HOFFMANN & Rado RAZAFINOMBANA, 2015. "Building A Dataset For Bilateral Maritime Connectivity," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 41, pages 101-124.
    17. Jerónimo Carballo & Georg Schaur & Christian Volpe Martincus, 2018. "Transportation and trade interactions: a trade facilitation perspective," Chapters, in: Bruce A. Blonigen & Wesley W. Wilson (ed.), Handbook of International Trade and Transportation, chapter 14, pages 422-450, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Abisai Konstantinus & Mark Zuidgeest & Anastasia Christodoulou & Zeeshan Raza & Johan Woxenius, 2019. "Barriers and Enablers for Short Sea Shipping in the Southern African Development Community," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-16, March.
    19. Olaf Jonkeren & Erhan Demirel & Jos van Ommeren & Piet Rietveld, 2011. "Endogenous transport prices and trade imbalances," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 509-527, May.
    20. Jordan Schwartz & José Luis Guasch & Gordon Wilmsmeier, 2009. "Logistics, Transport and Food Prices in LAC: Policy Guidance for Improving Efficiency and Reducing Costs," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 9324, Inter-American Development Bank.

    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:pal:marecl:v:22:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1057_s41278-019-00135-5. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    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.