The impact of competition on operational efficiency of ports: Empirical evidence from Chinese coastal port-listed companies

This study investigates the specific impacts of competition on operational efficiency of China's coastal ports. Firstly, we use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to calculate the scores of operational efficiency of selected China's coastal ports from 2010 to 2019. Findings are as follows: (1) except for an individual port (Lianyungang port), the scores of most ports are overall above 0.8; (2) Ports have significant gaps in scores. Secondly, we use panel data model to analyse the specific effects of competition on operational efficiency, and obtain three notable points: (1) Competition among China's coastal ports is relatively intense from 2010 to 2019; (2) Competition improves the operational efficiency of ports; (3) Port size is used more than the production technology and the level of operation and management to improve operational efficiency before 2014, while the opposite is true after 2014.