Productivity change of the Spanish Port System: impact of the economic crisis

ABSTRACT

The main goal of this study was to assess the impact of the economic crisis on the productivity growth of the Spanish Port System (SPS). The Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) was estimated for the 28 Port Authorities of the SPS, for a ‘non-crisis period’ (2005–2008) and a ‘crisis period’ (2008–2011). From a policy perspective, the MPI is a very useful approach for assessing the productivity change because it can be decomposed into the catching-up index and the frontier productivity index. The results showed that the economic crisis did not impact all of the Spanish Port Authorities equally. Some Port Authorities presented higher productivity growth during the crisis period than in the non-crisis period. Further analysis by the Mann–Whitney test revealed that Port Authority investments and productivity growth were statistically related. Information provided by this study may be very useful for stakeholders and decision-makers, in terms of long-term strategic planning and improving the competitiveness of the SPS. The findings illustrate that the economic crisis should not be seen as an international tragedy, but as an opportunity to adapt port traffics and installations to new needs and market demands.     

The economics behind the awarding of terminals in seaports: Towards a research agenda

Terminal concessions in seaports have only recently gained interest in academic circles. Issues such as the allocation mechanisms (to be) used for granting those concessions, the determination of the concession term and concession fees, as well as the inclusion of special clauses aimed at assuring that the terminal operator will act in the interest of the port authority and the wider community, are increasingly relevant to both academics and the port industry. So far, insights from established economic theories have rarely been applied to terminal concessions in seaports. It, therefore, remains to be seen which kind of awarding procedure would be best for which type of terminal concession. This contribution provides a detailed overview of the different phases of the terminal awarding process, including a classification scheme for awarding procedures, and contains an extensive discussion on the economic issues that require further investigation. The paper concludes by proposing a comprehensive research agenda on the topic.     

严冬回暖中的航运企业生存与发展问题的探讨

由美国次贷危机而引发的金融危机对全球航运市场产生了严重影响,对航运市场特别是干散货市场和集装箱市场造成了巨大的冲击,使航运市场跌入低谷。虽然现在有回暖的趋势,但今年的行情仍然不容乐观。航运企业应该及时调整经营策略,采取积极的应对措施,将金融危机给企业带来的损失降低到最小程度。     

金融危机对中国航运业及中国海事的影响之追踪

文中以广州南沙港区为例,通过大量的数据分析,讨论了金融危机对中国航运业所带来的冲击,以及对中国海事监管造成的影响。建议在当前形势下,中国航运业和中国海事都要紧紧抓住危机中蕴含的机遇,谋发展、求提升。     

金融危机下对航运企业安全管理的思考

金融危机席卷全球,航运业首当其冲。文中通过对台州辖区航运企业安全管理现状的走访调查,分析了这些企业目前在安全管理上存在的问题,提出了具有建设性的建议和对策,     

Transit investment and economic development

This paper describes the development of approaches to analysing the links between investment in transit and economic development. It indicates the need to bring together disparate approaches from urban economics and transportation economics to get a full understanding and uses recent results on agglomeration economies to present a more rigorous model of the wider economic benefits of transit investment. Although the evidence increasingly points towards identifiable benefits over and above those captured in conventional transport cost-benefit analysis, the chapter counsels against the assumption of simple rules.     

实现“三个转变”应对金融危机

文中通过分析金融危机对航运业和浙江海事工作的影响、海事部门目前采取的措施,提出海事部门当前和今后一个时期在监管方式上将着力实现“三个转变”,应对金融危机。     

我国海上搜救人员的心理危机干预需求分析

为探明我国海上搜救人员对心理危机干预的需求及心理危机干预在海上搜救人员中的应用特征,本研究对21个海上搜救中心和3个救助局的搜救人员进行问卷调查,回收有效问卷336份。结果表明,海上搜救人员对心理危机干预了解不深但需求度较高,对海上搜救人员开展的心理危机干预正向效果明显。国家海上搜救有关部门应加快推进心理危机干预的实践。     

金融危机下珠三角港口汽车物流策略探讨

珠三角南沙和新沙汽车滚装码头都处于珠江口,运量明显满足不了能力需求.目前又受到金融危机影响,物流量明显不足,规模效益难以显现.通过对国内外一些港口汽车物流有益经验分析和借鉴,探讨一些港口发展应对策略.     

沿海港口中长期科技发展构思

结合国内外港口的发展趋势,分析了目前中国港口的技术现状、存在的主要技术问题和发展要求,重点提出了今后需要研究和解决的关键技术。     

Analysis of the economic and social parameters of the Three-Wheeler Taxi service in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has an extensive Three-Wheeler Taxi service comprised of around 300,000 vehicles. These vehicles, which first made an entry to Sri Lanka’s roads in the early 1980s, account for around 15% of the active motor vehicle fleet at present. Three-Wheelers Taxis also account for around 6% of the passenger kilometres. These vehicles are mostly individually operated with some owned by the operator and others hired on a monthly or daily basis. The industry is unregulated with vehicle registration and driving licenses being the only instruments of regulation. Fares are unregulated. However, most operators belong to associations which are loose collections of operators found in a given locality. These associations impose a degree of self regulation with respect to fares. They also tend to demonstrate oligapolistic behaviour.The paper is based on a survey of 200 operators and 100 passengers from a Divisional Secretariat area in Colombo District. The survey covered a number of details pertaining to ownership, management and fare structures, as well as opinions on the service attributes by users. The survey also covered perceptions of operators to determine the social, economic and transport implications of the services provided. Details were also obtained on the profiles of the operators and their expectations.The paper provides the results of the analysis of this data and draws a number of conclusions on the economics of the industry as well as the social aspects associated with it. It also discusses the characteristics of the users of these three wheelers as well as their typical use. The analysis also investigates complementarily of service provision between three wheelers as an access mode to buses and railways. This analysis has been used to develop an understanding of the manner in which the industry has grown over the last two decades and how it is being operated today. It also identifies areas wherein the industry has become inefficient and assesses the degree of over pricing that exists due to this. The data also helps to determine the relationship between unemployment and provision of self-employed transport services.The paper concludes with a synopsis of the profile of the industry and its role within the wider transport sector and with respect to ownership. It also discusses the positive and negative impacts of the lack of regulation on the industry.     

船体强度及构件稳定性与技术经济性的关系

按《规范》要求,通过200客位船体结构设计实例,分析论证船体结构强度及构件稳定性与经济性的关系,提出解决该矛盾的有效途经与措施。     

金融危机背景下应对港口长期停泊船舶的对策

受金融危机冲击,航运、造船业萧条,港口长期停泊的船舶越来越多,已影响正常的船舶通航。台风季节即将到来,为确保安全,呼吁有关部门及时采取应对长期停泊船舶的安全对策。     

Effect of transportation infrastructure on economic growth in India: The VECM approach

This paper examines the effect of transportation (road and rail) infrastructure on economic growth in India over the period 1970–2010. Using Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), the paper finds bidirectional causality between road transportation and economic growth. It also finds bidirectional causality between road transportation and capital formation, bidirectional causality between gross domestic capital formation and economic growth, unidirectional causality from rail transportation to economic growth and unidirectional causality from rail transportation to gross capital formation. The paper suggests that expansion of transport infrastructure (both road and rail) along with gross capital formation will lead to substantial growth of the Indian economy. Therefore, within its stated scope, this study suggests that a suitable transport policy should be retained to boost transportation infrastructure and hence sustainable economic growth in India.     

The environmental costs and economic implications of container shipping on the Northern Sea Route

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) has tremendous potential for ocean shipping between Europe and Asia due to the savings from shorter transit time and distance. However, the Arctic area is environmentally vulnerable and thus there is a trade-off between NSR’s impacts on environment vs. its economic benefits, especially when compared with the traditional route, such as through the Suez Canal Route (SCR). This study estimates the market shares of different transport modes and alternative shipping routes for the container transport market between Europe and Asia, and the resulting environmental costs. Our result suggests that NSR can be a viable option under the status quo. However, its environmental costs tend to be higher than SCR due to small ship size and low load factor in the present, thus the development of NSR would lead to worse environment outcomes. If these issues can be resolved, NSR can benefit from lower operational and environmental costs, which will lead to higher market share and social welfare. Otherwise, increased use of NSR may lead to higher total environment costs than the status quo.     

A study of factors influencing the severity of road crashes involving drunk drivers and non drunk drivers

In this study, an attempt has been made to develop Multinomial Logit (MNL) model by analysing the drunken and non drunken drivers involved in road crashes on Indian highways. Multinomial Logit model has been deployed to assess the influence of various parameters like vehicular, environment and geometric factors on the set of drivers who were found to be drunk at the time of getting involved in the road crash and those who were not under the influence of alcohol at the time of meeting with the road crash. The total economic cost of road crashes in the case of non-drunk driver road crash is Rs. 1046.27 million whereas in the case of drunk driver road crashes it is estimated to be Rs. 204.50 million. Further, it can be observed that economic cost of drunk driver road crashes is varying from 13 to 19 % across different types of road crashes.     

三轴磁传感器性能标定方法研究

三轴磁传感器被广泛应用于空间磁场测量。利用高精度磁环驱动器、16位A/D、D/A数据卡和格拉斯磁环构建了三轴磁传感器的灵敏度和分辨率标定系统。依据当地地磁场垂直分量为35uT的特性得出了传感器3.52V/Gass的灵敏度。建立闭环测试系统的基础上,通过对采集到信号进行滤波去噪和功率谱分析,对比分析得到传感器的分辨率是6nT。     

数字罗经机械复示器的设计与实现

介绍利用数字控制器件-步进电机设计罗经复示器。介绍了复示器的机械结构、硬件电路组成、步进电机的驱动方式及软件实现方法,试验表明所设计的复示器具有指示精度高、响应速度快、无抖动等优点。     

我国港口消防现状及对策初步探讨

综述了我国港口火灾危险性、特点及存在的消防问题等;认为我国港口主要存在消防规划不合理,消防设施不完善、相应的技术手段落后以及管理措施不到位等现象。并针对港口消防设计和港口消防政策两个方面提出相应的改进意见。     

汽轮机自动调节传递函数与动态特性研究

将汽轮机的调节系统框图,逐一拆解成各数学模型进行研究.利用传递函数的特性及劳斯-赫尔维茨稳定判据来分析汽轮机的动态特性.调整其中主要的四个参数,不等率δ、油动机时间常数Tμ、蒸汽容积时间常数Tρ与转子时间常数Tα等,考察对其稳定性的影响.仿真结果与理论分析相吻合.