The evolution of container terminal productivity and efficiency under changing economic environments

Abstract

The paper analyzes the evolution of container terminal productivity and efficiency of 20 terminals in 10 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and Spain for the period 2005-2011. The inclusion of data from the demand growth period, and the subsequent reduction of demand and recovery, allows evaluating the impact and repercussion of the financial crisis on terminal productivity and efficiency.The aim of the empirical analysis in the paper is twofold: a) to document the harmonic mismatch in the evolution of port infra- and superstructure endowment, container demand in key Latin American and Caribbean container terminals and; b) to quantify the effect of the financial crisis and the posterior changing economic development on container port productivity applying non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The panel data analysis allows for specifically identifying the effect of dynamic economic environments on productivity and efficiency on individual terminals.