An efficiency analysis with tolerance of the Spanish port system

Abstract

This article reports on a study of commodity traffic efficiency in 23 selected ports of the Spanish port system (SPS). The authors used the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique to identify how specific and specialized each port is (the DEA evaluates top performance, rather than average performance). The authors introduce the DEA methodology, then describe their study, including the variables used and a quick description of the main attributes of the SPS. The DEA methodology is applied using port equipment as the input data and commodity traffic (including containers) as the output data of each port. The authors then discuss various scenarios, using variation rates for each of the selected outputs: liquid bulk, solid bulk, and general commodities. The authors conclude that, by using the DEA and tolerance analysis model as a starting point, it is possible to analyze the incidence of the different types of traffic in the efficiency index. This incidence analysis helps to determine how some ports, due to their traffic, are very sensitive to variations in that same traffic. Therefore, those ports must be aware of their traffic patterns so as not to lose their position in the efficiency ranking (advice that the authors recommend be heeded by all ports, whether efficient or not).