THE ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY IN STEVEDORING DETERMINANTS INDUSTRY

Juan Jose Diaz-Hernandez, Eduardo Martinez-Budria and Sergio Jara-Diaz ()

Articles, 2012, vol. 39, issue 3

Abstract: The non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA-Cost) method is used to calculate the technical, allocative and cost efficiency indices for the Spanish stevedoring industry within a period of significant legislative reforms in that sector in Spain. We adopt a disaggregated approach by separating cargo handling services provided by stevedoring firms from other port services offered to the ships by different agents. The results obtained from a sample of 19 ports from 1990-1998 show that the technical inefficiency led to an average cost increase of 7% and that allocative inefficiency resulted in labor overuse, inducing an average cost increase of 8%, such that the estimated average cost inefficiency was 15%. A detailed analysis show that large ports - with specialized terminals and a majority of privately-owned cranes - exhibit the largest efficiency indices, while the specific cargo mix handled does not help to explain the differences among ports. We conclude that the reforms contributed to increase the three types of efficiency and that new reforms could be appropriate to improve further the stevedoring operations.

Date: 2012
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