IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/josatr/v5y2020i1d10.1186_s41072-020-00075-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A competitive analysis of EU ports by fixing spatial and economic dimensions

Author

Listed:
  • Claudio Quintano

    (University of Naples ‘Parthenope’)

  • Paolo Mazzocchi

    (University of Naples ‘Parthenope’)

  • Antonella Rocca

    (University of Naples ‘Parthenope’)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the efficiencies of ten of the leading European ports. The motivation of the research refers to the relevant topic of selection of indicators that can be involved in the comparative analysis. Concerning the theoretical model, the authors’ efforts are especially directed towards the usage of the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and of the data envelopment analysis (DEA). These techniques have been widely adopted for benchmarking and performance evaluation by involving indicators based on data from National Accounts. If one of these indicators, such as labour force consistency, is not available at a specific level of aggregation, detailed assumptions are needed to address this complication. The present study proposes an additive model in order to provide an estimation of ports’ economic activities by fixing the port activity boundaries and the spatial perimeter of the firms investigated. Several NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) levels and NACE (EU Statistical Classification of Economic Activities) codes are fixed to offer a useful comparable labour indicator. Empirical results reveal that each port area presents a combination of the NACE categories which significantly impact the efficiency that can reach very high performance values through both the SFA and DEA techniques. Since the managers can choose which sectors to improve, which particular improvement strategies to support, which specific service to add, their decisions impact this performance evaluation, and their performance can be verified through the approaches proposed.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:josatr:v:5:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1186_s41072-020-00075-x
    DOI: 10.1186/s41072-020-00075-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s41072-020-00075-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1186/s41072-020-00075-x?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. Hokey Min & Byung-In Park, 2005. "Evaluating the inter-temporal efficiency trends of international container terminals using data envelopment analysis," International Journal of Integrated Supply Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(3), pages 258-277.
    2. Ferreira, Diogo Cunha & Marques, Rui Cunha & Pedro, Maria Isabel, 2018. "Explanatory variables driving the technical efficiency of European seaports: An order-α approach dealing with imperfect knowledge," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 41-62.
    3. Rivera, Liliana & Sheffi, Yossi & Welsch, Roy, 2014. "Logistics agglomeration in the US," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 222-238.
    4. Bottasso, Anna & Conti, Maurizio & Ferrari, Claudio & Merk, Olaf & Tei, Alessio, 2013. "The impact of port throughput on local employment: Evidence from a panel of European regions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 32-38.
    5. Peter Shobayo & Edwin van Hassel, 2019. "Container barge congestion and handling in large seaports: a theoretical agent-based modeling approach," Journal of Shipping and Trade, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-26, December.
    6. Wiegmans, Bart & Witte, Patrick, 2017. "Efficiency of inland waterway container terminals: Stochastic frontier and data envelopment analysis to analyze the capacity design- and throughput efficiency," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 12-21.
    7. Estache, Antonio & Gonzalez, Marianela & Trujillo, Lourdes, 2002. "Efficiency Gains from Port Reform and the Potential for Yardstick Competition: Lessons from Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 545-560, April.
    8. 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.
    9. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    10. Elvira Haezendonck & Mychal Langenus, 2019. "Integrated ports clusters and competitive advantage in an extended resource pool for the Antwerp Seaport," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(1), pages 74-91, January.
    11. Fernández-Macho, Javier & González, Pilar & Virto, Jorge, 2016. "An index to assess maritime importance in the European Atlantic economy," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 72-81.
    12. Gong, Xiaoxing & Wu, Xiaofan & Luo, Meifeng, 2019. "Company performance and environmental efficiency: A case study for shipping enterprises," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 96-106.
    13. Baynes, Timothy & Lenzen, Manfred & Steinberger, Julia K. & Bai, Xuemei, 2011. "Comparison of household consumption and regional production approaches to assess urban energy use and implications for policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7298-7309.
    14. Lisa M. Grobar, 2008. "The Economic Status of Areas Surrounding Major U.S. Container Ports: Evidence and Policy Issues," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 497-516, September.
    15. Claudio Ferrari & Marco Percoco & Andrea Tedeschi, 2010. "Ports And Local Development: Evidence From Italy," Articles, International Journal of Transport Economics, vol. 37(1).
    16. Jasmine Siu Lee Lam & Theo Notteboom, 2014. "The Greening of Ports: A Comparison of Port Management Tools Used by Leading Ports in Asia and Europe," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(2), pages 169-189, March.
    17. 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.
    18. Romuald Lacoste & Marie Douet, 2013. "The adaptation of the landlord port model to France's major seaports: a critical analysis of local solutions," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 27-47, January.
    19. Panayides, Photis M. & Lambertides, Neophytos & Savva, Christos S., 2011. "The relative efficiency of shipping companies," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(5), pages 681-694, September.
    20. Cook, Wade D. & Seiford, Larry M., 2009. "Data envelopment analysis (DEA) - Thirty years on," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 192(1), pages 1-17, January.
    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. William H. Greene & Lynda Khalaf & Robin Sickles & Michael Veall & Marcel-Cristian Voia (ed.), 2016. "Productivity and Efficiency Analysis," Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, Springer, edition 1, number 978-3-319-23228-7, March.
    23. Leonardo Ramos Rios & Antonio Carlos Gastaud Maçada, 2006. "Analysing the Relative Efficiency of Container Terminals of Mercosur using DEA," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 8(4), pages 331-346, December.
    24. 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.
    25. 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.
    26. Aljohani, Khalid & Thompson, Russell G., 2016. "Impacts of logistics sprawl on the urban environment and logistics: Taxonomy and review of literature," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 255-263.
    27. Gertjan van den Bos & Bart Wiegmans, 2018. "Short sea shipping: a statistical analysis of influencing factors on SSS in European countries," Journal of Shipping and Trade, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-20, December.
    28. Carlos Pestana Barros, 2012. "Productivity Assessment of African Seaports," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 24(1), pages 67-78, March.
    29. Deng, Ping & Lu, Shiqing & Xiao, Hanbin, 2013. "Evaluation of the relevance measure between ports and regional economy using structural equation modeling," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 123-133.
    30. Lampe, Hannes W. & Hilgers, Dennis, 2015. "Trajectories of efficiency measurement: A bibliometric analysis of DEA and SFA," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 240(1), pages 1-21.
    31. Carlos Pestana Barros & Nicolas Peypoch, 2007. "Comparing Productivity Change in Italian and Portuguese Seaports using the Luenberger Indicator Approach," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 9(2), pages 138-147, June.
    32. Christensen, Laurits R & Jorgenson, Dale W & Lau, Lawrence J, 1973. "Transcendental Logarithmic Production Frontiers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 55(1), pages 28-45, February.
    33. Sahoo, Biresh K & Khoveyni, Mohammad & Eslami, Robabeh & Chaudhury, Pradipta, 2016. "Returns to scale and most productive scale size in DEA with negative data," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 255(2), pages 545-558.
    34. R. B. Castelein & H. Geerlings & J. H. R. Van Duin, 2019. "The ostensible tension between competition and cooperation in ports: a case study on intra-port competition and inter-organizational relations in the Rotterdam container handling sector," Journal of Shipping and Trade, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-25, December.
    35. Ziaul Haque Munim & Hans-Joachim Schramm, 2018. "The impacts of port infrastructure and logistics performance on economic growth: the mediating role of seaborne trade," Journal of Shipping and Trade, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-19, December.
    36. Madeira, Armando Gonçalves & Cardoso, Moacyr Machado & Belderrain, Mischel Carmen Neyra & Correia, Anderson Ribeiro & Schwanz, Silvia Helena, 2012. "Multicriteria and multivariate analysis for port performance evaluation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 450-456.
    37. Carlos Pestana Barros & Nicolas Peypoch, 2012. "Productivity assessment of African seaports with biased technological change," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(6), pages 663-675, May.
    38. Liu, John S. & Lu, Louis Y.Y. & Lu, Wen-Min, 2016. "Research fronts in data envelopment analysis," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 33-45.
    39. 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.
    40. Carlos Pestana Barros, 2005. "Decomposing Growth in Portuguese Seaports: A Frontier Cost Approach," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 7(4), pages 297-315, December.
    41. Zhou, Peng & Poh, Kim Leng & Ang, Beng Wah, 2007. "A non-radial DEA approach to measuring environmental performance," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 178(1), pages 1-9, April.
    42. Carlos Pestana Barros, 2006. "A Benchmark Analysis of Italian Seaports Using Data Envelopment Analysis," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 8(4), pages 347-365, December.
    43. Tongzon, Jose, 2001. "Efficiency measurement of selected Australian and other international ports using data envelopment analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 107-122, February.
    44. Oum, Tae Hoon & Park, Jong-Hun, 2004. "Multinational firms' location preference for regional distribution centers: focus on the Northeast Asian region," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 101-121, March.
    45. Ha, Min-Ho & Yang, Zaili & Lam, Jasmine Siu Lee, 2019. "Port performance in container transport logistics: A multi-stakeholder perspective," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 25-40.
    46. Surís-Regueiro, Juan C. & Garza-Gil, M. Dolores & Varela-Lafuente, Manuel M., 2013. "Marine economy: A proposal for its definition in the European Union," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 111-124.
    47. Brian Murphy & Michael R. Veall & Yan Zhang, 2016. "Is There Evidence of ICT Skill Shortages in Canadian Taxfiler Data?," Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, in: William H. Greene & Lynda Khalaf & Robin Sickles & Michael Veall & Marcel-Cristian Voia (ed.), Productivity and Efficiency Analysis, edition 1, chapter 0, pages 145-160, Springer.
    48. Leonardo Ensslin & Vinicius Dezem & Ademar Dutra & Sandra Rolim Ensslin & Karine Somensi, 2018. "Seaport-performance tools: an analysis of the international literature," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 20(4), pages 587-602, December.
    49. R. D. Banker & A. Charnes & W. W. Cooper, 1984. "Some Models for Estimating Technical and Scale Inefficiencies in Data Envelopment Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(9), pages 1078-1092, September.
    50. Pierre Cariou & Laurent Fedi & Fr�d�ric Dagnet, 2014. "The new governance structure of French seaports: an initial post-evaluation," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 430-443, September.
    51. Theo Notteboom & Chris Coeck & Julien Van Den Broeck, 2000. "Measuring and Explaining the Relative Efficiency of Container Terminals by Means of Bayesian Stochastic Frontier Models," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 2(2), pages 83-106, June.
    52. Hong-Oanh Nguyen & Hong-Van Nguyen & Young-Tae Chang & Anthony T. H. Chin & Jose Tongzon, 2016. "Measuring port efficiency using bootstrapped DEA: the case of Vietnamese ports," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(5), pages 644-659, July.
    53. 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.
    54. Kumbhakar,Subal C. & Lovell,C. A. Knox, 2003. "Stochastic Frontier Analysis," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521666633, January.
    55. Odeck, James & Bråthen, Svein, 2012. "A meta-analysis of DEA and SFA studies of the technical efficiency of seaports: A comparison of fixed and random-effects regression models," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(10), pages 1574-1585.
    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. 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).
    2. 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.

    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. 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).
    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. 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.
    4. Odeck, James & Schøyen, Halvor, 2020. "Productivity and convergence in Norwegian container seaports: An SFA-based Malmquist productivity index approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 222-239.
    5. Shaher Z. Zahran & Jobair Bin Alam & Abdulrahem H. Al-Zahrani & Yiannis Smirlis & Stratos Papadimitriou & Vangelis Tsioumas, 2020. "Analysis of port efficiency using imprecise and incomplete data," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 219-246, March.
    6. Güner, Samet, 2015. "Investigating infrastructure, superstructure, operating and financial efficiency in the management of Turkish seaports using data envelopment analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 36-48.
    7. 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.
    8. Odeck, James & Bråthen, Svein, 2012. "A meta-analysis of DEA and SFA studies of the technical efficiency of seaports: A comparison of fixed and random-effects regression models," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(10), pages 1574-1585.
    9. Shui-Mu Ju & Nan Liu, 2015. "Efficiency and its influencing factors in port enterprises: empirical evidence from Chinese port-listed companies," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(6), pages 571-590, August.
    10. 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.
    11. Gonzalez, M. & Trujillo, L., 2007. "Efficiency measurement in the port industry: a survey of the empirical evidence," Working Papers 07/08, Department of Economics, City University London.
    12. Rabeb KAMMOUN & Souhir ABBES, 2020. "The technical efficiency of Tunisian ports: Comparing data envelopment analysis and stochastic frontier analysis scores," Romanian Journal of Economics, Institute of National Economy, vol. 51(2(60)), pages 83-102, December.
    13. Hong-Oanh Nguyen & Hong-Van Nguyen & Young-Tae Chang & Anthony T. H. Chin & Jose Tongzon, 2016. "Measuring port efficiency using bootstrapped DEA: the case of Vietnamese ports," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(5), pages 644-659, July.
    14. Carlos Barros & Hercules Haralambides & Mohamed Hussain & Nicolas Perpoch, 2011. "Seaport Efficiency and Productivity Growth," Chapters, in: Kevin Cullinane (ed.), International Handbook of Maritime Economics, chapter 17, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Marcelo Müller Beuren & Rafael Andriotti & Guilherme Bergmann Borges Vieira & José Luis Duarte Ribeiro & Francisco José Kliemann Neto, 2018. "On measuring the efficiency of Brazilian ports and their management models," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 20(1), pages 149-168, March.
    16. 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.
    17. 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).
    18. Kammoun Rabeb, 2018. "The Technical Efficiency of Tunisian Ports: Comparing Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Frontier Analysis Scores," Logistics, Supply Chain, Sustainability and Global Challenges, Sciendo, vol. 9(2), pages 73-84, October.
    19. 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.
    20. 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).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    SFA; DEA; Port; Efficiency; NUTS; NACE;
    All these 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:spr:josatr:v:5:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1186_s41072-020-00075-x. 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.springer.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.