Abstract
In this paper we estimate both a technical efficiency measure and the evolution of allocative efficiency in the infrastructure services of Spanish ports during the period 1986–2005. To achieve this aim, we estimate a system of equations consisting of a multioutput translog input distance function and cost shares equations. The results show that Spanish ports do not minimize their costs. Additionally, from 1992, we observe a process of under-utilization of capital relative to labour, coinciding with a decentralized process of the organizations that own and control the land and activities at Spanish ports.
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Notes
- 1.
A good survey related to productivity and efficiency measurement in the port industry comes from González and Trujillo (2007).
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
As we pointed on Sect. 2, in 1985 the Spanish Ministry of Public Works set a rate of return based on the net investment of fixed assets for the port system (4%).
- 5.
Baños-Pino et al. (1999) considered as quasi-input number of lineal meters of a port land surface of more than 4 meters, instead of total deposit area. However, with our data, both variables are highly correlated.
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Núñez-Sánchez, R., Coto-Millán, P. (2010). Excess Capacity, Economic Efficiency and Technical Change in a Public-Owned Port System: An Application to the Infrastructure Services of Spanish Ports. In: Coto-Millán, P., Pesquera, M., Castanedo, J. (eds) Essays on Port Economics. Contributions to Economics. Physica, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2425-4_17
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