Title: New evidence on the determinants of efficiency at Brazilian ports: a bootstrapped DEA analysis

Authors: Peter Wanke; Carlos Pestana Barros

Addresses: COPPEAD Graduate Business School, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua Paschoal Lemme, 355, 21949-900 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ' Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, Technical University of Lisbon, Rua Miguel Lupi, 20, 1249-078 Lisboa, Portugal

Abstract: This paper reports on the use of different approaches for measuring efficiency in 27 major Brazilian ports from 2007 to 2011. Several DEA estimates were generated using the bootstrapping technique presented in Simar and Wilson (1998, 2004), thus allowing bias correction to test for significant differences in efficiency levels and their major determinants. Results not only corroborate previous evidence regarding capacity shortfalls within Brazilian ports, but also suggest a positive impact for: a) connectivity infrastructure on scale efficiency levels; b) private administration on managerial efficiency levels; c) higher technical efficiency levels on handling costs and queuing times.

Keywords: ports; data envelopment analysis; efficiency determinants; DEA; Brazil; efficiency decomposition; returns-to-scale; RTS; port efficiency; bootstrapping; bias correction; capacity constraints; connectivity infrastructure; scale efficiency; private administration; managerial efficiency; technical efficiency; handling costs; queuing times.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTL.2016.076240

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, 2016 Vol.8 No.3, pp.250 - 272

Received: 03 Jun 2014
Accepted: 27 Oct 2014
Published online: 30 Apr 2016 *

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