Productivity growth of Taiwan’s major domestic airports in the presence of aircraft noise

• Published in: Transportation research. Part E, Logistics and transportation review Vol. 44; no. 3; pp. 543 - 554
• Main Authors: Yu, Ming-Miin, Hsu, Shih-Hsun, Chang, Ching-Cheng, Lee, Duu-Hwa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Exeter Elsevier India Pvt Ltd 01.05.2008; Elsevier; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Series: Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review
• Subjects: Aircraft; Aircraft noise; Airport; Airport Directional distance function Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index Aircraft noise; Airports; Bias; Directional distance function; Indexes; Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index; Productivity; Studies; Taiwan; Directional distance function; Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index; Aircraft noise; Airport
• ISSN: 1366-5545; 1878-5794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tre.2007.01.005

This study seeks to explain the productivity growth of Taiwan’s airport sector using a panel data set of 4 airports covering the period from 1995 to 1999. The Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index is modified to accommodate the presence of aircraft noise with the use of the directional output distance function. A window approach is also employed to provide a smoothed-surface frontier. It is found that the annual productivity growth of Taiwan’s airports is as high as 8.0% over this period and ignoring the reduction in undesirable outputs in traditional productivity analysis may seriously bias such upward growth.