Typology of Long-Term Port Efficiency Improvement Paths: Malmquist Total Factor Productivity forWorld Container Ports
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 15, Issue 4
Abstract
The global seaport sector made huge efforts in relation to port reform and technological development since the 1990s. This study attempts to systematically estimate the impacts of these efforts on world ports’ efficiency changes between 1991 and 2004. The Malmquist Total Factor Productivity Index can effectively measure efficiency changes and identify sources of efficiency gains and losses. Based on the decomposed Malmquist Productivity Index efficiency indices, this study creates a typology of ports regarding whether, and how, they have improved their efficiency over the last decade. The results suggest that: (1) while scale efficiency, mainly representing impacts of external economic environments on port performance, is still one of the important factors to shape port efficiency, it is neither determining nor predominant any longer; (2) the globalized competition in the container shipping and terminal markets enables potential strategies to be used that combine institutional restructuring and capital investment, as a partial solution to overcome the external limitations of ports, such as lack of hinterlands; and (3) an exclusive focus on aggressive investment in technological progress is a limited strategy, as other competitor ports can relatively easily replicate the process, and, consequently, it may negate any increase in long-term competitiveness.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the following organizations for their generosity and support: Containerisation International, Lloyd’s MIU for giving us access to the CIO database. We also thank anonymous reviewers and the editor for their helpful and constructive comments on this paper. Finally, this study has been supported by the University of California Transportation Center, University of California Graduate Division, and the University of California Pacific Rim Research Program.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 15 • Issue 4 • December 2009
Pages: 340 - 350
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 4, 2007
Accepted: Apr 10, 2009
Published online: Nov 13, 2009
Published in print: Dec 2009
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