Search results for "WORKING"
showing 10 items of 2747 documents
The Impact of Lbos on Investment Policies and Operations of Acquired French Firms
2002
This paper evaluates the extent that French LBO targets’ investment policy and operations can account for their overperformance discrepancy. Our empirical study has been carried out on 132 French LBOs between 1989 and 1994. The results show that the abnormal plunge in economic return cannot be explained by overinvestments or by inefficient working capital management. Nevertheless, abnormal increases in wages, supplies and/or sales price reductions appear to be prominent.
‘Tool port’ to ‘landlord port’: a game theory approach to analyse gains from governance model transformation
2018
This study investigates potential port users’ surplus and terminal operators’ profits due to transforming port governance from the ‘tool port’ model to the ‘landlord port’ model. Although the landl...
Does higher technical efficiency induce a higher service level? A paradox association in the context of port operations
2020
Abstract Researchers and practitioners are benchmarking technical efficiency of ports and exploring the drivers of high efficiency. Paradoxically, this study argues that high technical efficiency (TE = 1) is not always essential, but an optimal level needs to be achieved while balancing the port service level. This study applies data envelopment analysis (DEA) and free disposal hull (FDH) methods to perform efficiency rankings of 38 container terminals from 17 different ports in 12 Asian countries. Four terminals are technically efficient (TE = 1) in all frontier approaches, thereof one Bangladeshi, one Chinese, one Indian and one Vietnamese. Furthermore, this study presents a case study co…
Port expansion and negative externalities: a willingness to accept approach
2015
Port expansion has been seen as the origin of negative externalities, affecting local residents’ well-being and contributing to the poor public image of ports. In this study, the contingent valuation method is used to estimate the costs borne by local residents as a consequence of the negative externalities derived from the growth of the Port of Valencia (Spain) in the last 30 years. As transport project appraisal has become more complex, this technique complements existing methodologies in this field, such as the social cost benefit analysis and the multicriteria analysis. Given the perceived property rights of families that have been living close to the port for a long time, a willingness…
Methodology and trends for an intelligent transport system in developing countries
2018
Abstract Increasingly, the technologies that are used in telecommunications contribute to improve intelligent transport systems. These technologies are systems that offer several concepts like vehicular ad hoc networks, which allow reduction of traffic accidents, traffic congestion and consequently increase road safety and the comfort of road users. Developing countries in general and those of sub-Sahara in particular do not have telecommunication infrastructures, even road infrastructures for the implementation of an intelligent transport system. Moreover, with the serious increase in vehicles in these countries, the problem of traffic regulation arise especially in the inter-urban context…
Assessment of the Total Factor Productivity Change in the Spanish Ports: Hicks–Moorsteen Productivity Index Approach
2016
AbstractThe assessment of the productivity growth of ports is essential to improve their performance and competitiveness. Although there are several nonparametric methodologies to compute the productivity change, the Hicks–Moorsteen productivity index is the only multiplicatively completed index that can be computed without price data. For the first time, the total factor productivity (TFP) change of a sample of ports is evaluated. The analysis covers the 28 ports comprising the Spanish port system, using data over the period 2005–2012. The drivers of TFP—technical change, technical efficiency, mix efficiency, and residual scale efficiency—are also investigated. The results indicate that fr…
Measuring foreland container port connectivity disaggregated by destination markets: An index for Short Sea Shipping services in Spanish ports
2020
Abstract The present research aims to develop a Foreland Port Connectivity Index (FPCI) including both qualitative and quantitative variables related to the characteristics of the maritime services provided. To that end, the FPCI incorporates two discount factors—the number of shipping services and destination countries—as penalties to correct for the quality of a port connection. After defining the FPCI, the index is applied to Spanish ports to study their connectivity in terms of container Short Sea Shipping (SSS) services. Although the connectivity of SSS traffic has not been widely studied, it is an interesting case study as small ports play a more relevant role in facilitating access t…
Branch-and-Cut for the Split Delivery Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows
2019
The split delivery vehicle routing problem with time windows (SDVRPTW) is a notoriously hard combinatorial optimization problem. First, it is hard to find a useful compact mixed-integer programming (MIP) formulation for the SDVRPTW. Standard modeling approaches either suffer from inherent symmetries (mixed-integer programs with a vehicle index) or cannot exactly capture all aspects of feasibility. Because of the possibility to visit customers more than once, the standard mechanisms to propagate load and time along the routes fail. Second, the lack of useful formulations has rendered any direct MIP-based approach impossible. Up to now, the most effective exact algorithms for the SDVRPTW hav…
Heuristics for the capacitated modular hub location problem
2017
Abstract In this paper we study the hub location problem, where the goal is to identify an optimal subset of facilities (hubs) to minimize the transportation cost while satisfying certain capacity constraints. In particular, we target the single assignment version, in which each node in the transportation network is assigned to only one hub to route its traffic. We consider here a realistic variant introduced previously, in which the capacity of edges between hubs is increased in a modular way. This reflects the practical situation in air traffic where the number of flights between two locations implies a capacity in terms of number of passengers. Then, the capacity can be increased in a mo…
Assessing cruise port of call performance: a passenger-based approach using PLS modelling
2017
ABSTRACTIn the present context of booming cruise demand, the study aims to advance the knowledge on port of call performance from cruise passengers’ perspective. The aim of this investigation was twofold: (1) to examine the structural links among port of call perceived quality–satisfaction–future intentions (revisit and word-of-mouth (WOM) behaviour); and (2) to test the moderating effect of cruisers’ motivation (push versus pull factors) to visit the port of call on the proposed structural links. Partial least squares path modelling was used to test the proposed model with a sample of 492 cruise passengers at a Mediterranean port of call. The findings revealed that port of call quality has…