An analysis of the efficiency of italian cruise terminals

Abstract

The cruise industry has recently witnessed considerable growth, during which time the Mediterranean Basin and, in particular, the Italian area has gained an increasingly competitive position. A significant role in the investment and management decisions and in the level of efficiency and performance of terminal cruise operations is played by the possible partnerships between private and public actors (port authorities, cruise terminals, cruise line companies). The aim of this paper is to measure the technical efficiency of Italian cruise terminals in the Mediterranean Basin when public and private actors participate in the management of terminals. Cruise terminal efficiency is measured by the calculation of the production function with multi-outputs. We apply stochastic frontier analysis based on the distance function. The study shows that the partnership between private and public (with a strong private management component) has a positive impact on the technical efficiency of the cruise terminals.