Measuring and Explaining the Relative Efficiency of Container Terminals by Means of Bayesian Stochastic Frontier Models

Theo Notteboom, Chris Coeck and Julien Van Den Broeck
Additional contact information
Chris Coeck: *Department of Transport Economics, University of Antwerp (RUCA)
Julien Van Den Broeck: **Department of Economics, University of Antwerp (RUCA)

Maritime Economics & Logistics, 2000, vol. 2, issue 2, 83-106

Abstract: A terminal is efficient if it produces a maximum output (container traffic in TEU) for given inputs (terminal superstructure). Traditional studies on container terminal efficiency tend to focus on partial productivity measures such as TEU per crane. These instruments do not assess the overall efficiency of terminal operations, as they only look at specific aspects of the terminal operation process. This paper presents an approach for the measurement of container terminal efficiency based on Bayesian Stochastic Frontier modelling. A Bayesian Stochastic Frontier Model is a stochastic and parametric method for analysing productive efficiency. The stochastic production function takes into account statistical noise (composed error) and models the level of inefficiency via a non-negative disturbance. As such, the level of (in)efficiency of different terminals can be compared. The model is tested using a sample of 36 European container terminals, supplemented with four Asian container ports. In general, north European container terminals attain a slightly higher degree of efficiency than southern terminals. Terminals located in hub ports on average are considered as more efficient than those in feeder ports.International Journal of Maritime Economics (2000) 2, 83–106; doi:10.1057/ijme.2000.9

Date: 2000
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (83)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.palgrave-journals.com/mel/journal/v2/n2/pdf/ijme20009a.pdf Link to full text PDF (application/pdf)
http://www.palgrave-journals.com/mel/journal/v2/n2/full/ijme20009a.html Link to full text HTML (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:marecl:v:2:y:2000:i:2:p:83-106

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... nt/journal/41278/PS2

Access Statistics for this article

Maritime Economics & Logistics is currently edited by Hercules E. Haralambides

More articles in Maritime Economics & Logistics from Palgrave Macmillan, International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().