A DEA Analysis in Latin American Ports: Measuring the Performance of Guayaquil Contecon Port

Abstract

In this globalized era, the port sector has been a major influence in a country’s economic growth. Ports have become one of the main funnels to enhance competitiveness in emerging markets of Latin America. Therefore, it is relevant to carry out an analysis of their performance. A good approach to measure performance is DEA, a mathematical tool that handles a benchmark analysis by an evaluation of multiple factors that describes the nature of an entity. The research herein aims to evaluate and compare the performance of the Ecuadorian Guayaquil Contecon Port in comparison with 14 major ports in Latin American and the Caribbean by using DEA. As a result of the study, the efficiency scores of the ports are analyzed to propose best practices to improve the performance of Guayaquil Contecon Port.