Efficiency and productivity evidence from international airports in the Asia-Pacific region

• Published in: Journal of the Chinese Institute of Industrial Engineers Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 157 - 168
• Main Author: Yang, Hsu-Hao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 01.03.2010
• Subjects: data envelopment analysis; efficiency; Malmquist index; productivity; 關鍵詞： 效率 ， 生產力 ， 資料包絡分析法 ， Malmquist 指數
• ISSN: 1017-0669; 2151-7606
• DOI: 10.1080/10170660903545956

Airports advance a country's economic development due to their ability to rapidly transport passengers and cargo. The air freight market of the Asia-Pacific region has persistently grown, in part due to China's continuous economic rise. To meet the growing demands of this market, Asia-Pacific governments have launched numerous projects in attempts to increase the competitiveness of their international airports. This article uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist productivity index (MPI) to measure efficiency and productivity growth of the region's international airports over the period 1998-2006. According to these results, the first finding indicates that airports improved their technical efficiencies with appropriate scale size and high utilization of resources. The second finding reveals that airports experienced productivity growth until 2002-2003, but declined by about 3% per period thereafter in terms of average productivity growth. The decline was largely a result of slow technological advance. The third finding justifies the application of DEA and MPI to the same data to reach a less misleading conclusion. The last finding demonstrates that efficiency change contributing to productivity growth was also reflected by the improvement of technical efficiency.