The authors show how relatively standard methodologies can help to measure the efficiency gains from reforming the organization of port infrastructure, how those measures can be used to promote competition between ports, and how competition can be built into an incentive-driven regulatory...

Recent literature has emphasized the importance of transport costs and infrastructure in explaining trade, access to markets, and increases in per capita income. For most Latin American countries transport costs are a greater barrier to U.S. markets than import tariffs. The authors investigate...

Until 1980, the world merchant fleet expanded rapidly in response to thriving seatrade markets. Since then, it has not grown much. The industry did not adjust effectively to periodic global recession, and the fleet's earnings deteriorated as the gap widened between the supply of tonnage and the...

This paper quantifies the evolution of technical efficiency in port infrastructure service provision in the major Spanish port authorities involved in container traffic. The paper also analyzes the extent to which port reforms that took place in the 1990's had an impact on the efficiency of the...

The world economic crisis of 2008 presents clear challenges to prospects for economic growth in developing countries. This is particularly true for emerging economies in East Asia that have relied to a great extent over the past decade on export-led growth. What steps to facilitate trade promise...

This paper presents a technical efficiency analysis of container ports in Latin America and the Caribbean using an input-oriented stochastic frontier model. A 10-year panel is employed with data on container throughput, port terminal area, length of berths, and number of cranes available in 67...

A concern about regional trade arrangements (RTAs) is whether the discriminatory trade barriers applied to RTAs encourage high-cost imports from member countries at the expense of nonmember lower-cost goods. RTA impact evaluations have been hampered by a lack of appropriate empirical procedures...

India was a rather marginal participant in world trade during the early years after independence. Since 1980, however, the structure and orientation of Indian export trades have undergone fundamental changes. Substantial progress has been made in diversifying the export base - manufactured goods...

Without a competitive transport industry, the Maghreb countries will not truly benefit from reform aimed at increasing the region's share of international trade. A study of barriers to the region's trade, especially with countries of the European Union, identified more than 30 barriers, in four...

It has been widely argued that, with the decline in trade costs (for example, transport and communication costs), the importance of distance has declined over time. If so, this would be a boon for countries located far from the main centers of economic activity. The authors examine the evolution...