1 ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY DETERMINANTS IN STEVEDORING INDUSTRY

The non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA-Cost) method is used to calculate the technical, allocative and cost efficiency indices for the Spanish stevedoring industry during the most significant period of legislative reforms for these activities in Spain. A multioutput approach is used, applied specifically to cargo handling services provided by the stevedoring industry as an activity that is different from other port services that are supplied by different agents. The results obtained from a sampling of 19 ports from 1990-1998 show that the technical inefficiency led to an average cost increase of 7%, and that there is also an allocative inefficiency that resulted in an overuse of the labor factor, inducing an average cost increase of 8%, adding up to an estimated average cost inefficiency of 15%. The results show that large ports, with specialized terminals and a majority of privately-owned cranes, exhibit the largest efficiency indices, while the specific cargo mix handled does not help to explain the differences observed between ports. Finally, the reforms applicable to the industry contributed to the improvement of the three types of efficiency, although certain inefficiencies remain that require new reform initiatives