Efficiency Measurement in the Port Industry: A Survey of the Empirical Evidence

The purpose of this paper is to further an understanding of the port sector through a systematic analysis of the existing studies assessing the economic efficiency and productivity of the sector. The emphasis is on the measurement methodologies, the variables used and the results in terms of the various port activities as well as on the relevance of dimensions such as port size, ownership, location, and so on. One of the main contributions of our analysis is the evidence provided for the need very clearly to isolate and spell out the port activity for which the efficiency assessment is being conducted. From an economic policy viewpoint, our assessment also points to the necessity to more closely involve the relevant authorities in order to improve the data collection system. © 2009 LSE and the University of Bath