A note on productivity change in French and Italian seaports

This paper proposes a framework for benchmarking French and Italian seaports and the rationalisation of their operational activities. The analysis is based on the Luenberger productivity indicator. The main benefit of our method is to allow for both input contraction and output expansion, in determining relative efficiencies and productivity changes. Benchmarks are provided for improving the operations of those seaports, which perform worse than others. Several interesting and useful managerial insights and implications arise from the study. Following this approach, the benchmarking of multi-country seaports gives a different picture than the one which is obtained from a single country.