Outline
- Highlights
- Abstract
- Keywords
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Review of the Literature
- 3. Data and Variables
- 3.1. Inputs and Outputs
- 3.2. Quality Indicators
- 4. Methodology
- 4.1. Malmquist Index and Its Quality Component
- 4.2. Airport Quality Index
- 5. Empirical Results
- 5.1. Airport Quality Index
- 5.2. Malmquist Index
- 6. Conclusions and Discussion
- Acknowledgments
- References
رئوس مطالب
- خلاصه
- 1.مقدمه
- 2. مرور بهره وری فرودگاهی و آنالیز کیفیت
- 3. داده ها و متغیرها
- 3.2 شاخص های کیفیت
- 4. سبک شناسی
- 4.1 شاخص مالم کوئیست و مولفه کیفیت آن
- 4.2 شاخص کیفیت فرودگاه
- 5. نتایج تجربی
- 5.1 شاخص کیفیت فرودگاهی
- 5.2 شاخص مالمکویست
- 3. نتیجه گیری ها و بحث
Abstract
This paper analyses the productivity of 20 Italian airports management companies during the period 2006–2008 using a DEA Malmquist index that includes a quality component. The proposed methodology is applied for the first time to the airport industry. In doing so, we directly assess the impact of the quality of services delivered by an airport on its productive performance. The study shows that, while Italian airports possess an acceptable level of quality in terms of their infrastructure, their managerial/administrative procedures must be strengthened in order to better deal with both technological modernization and passenger waiting time at the airports.
Highlights
- This paper analyses the productivity of 20 Italian airport management companies.
- We directly assess the impact of quality of services on productive performance.
- Italian airports have experienced a progressive decline in their productivities.
- Decline in productivity can be attributed to a low level of quality of services.
- They should invest more resources in an effort to reduce passenger waiting time.
6. Conclusions and discussion
The current paper has applied a modified Malmquist index, based on classic DEA models and methodologies, that allows to incorporate quality aspect on productivity measurement of 20 Italian airport management companies over the period 2006–2008. The advantage of the proposed approach stems directly from its underlying DEA technique, which is based on identifying the best performers in a prescribed set of units. The main contribution of the paper to the literature is that airports’ quality improvements are determined in relation to the productivity evolution of the benchmarked airports, rather than in absolute terms.
The utilization of two quality indices obtained by employing data available from airports’ service charters has allowed us to shed new light on those factors affecting the productivity evolution of the Italian airport industry. In Italy, the reforms that began in the 1990s have significantly, and negatively, reshaped the airport industry, in terms of the concession agreement and privatization. Based on our research, we have found that the deterioration in productivity can be ascribed to both insufficient technological improvements and, by the presence of a low level of quality of services delivered. The latter is the principal empirical novelty of the current research effort. In this framework the results thus suggest that, while Italian airport management companies have reached a satisfactory level of quality in terms of infrastructure, they must invest significantly more resources in an effort to reduce passenger waiting time at airports.
Future research in this area includes more detailed analysis of Italian airports when the full set of 35 quality indicators included in the mandatory services charter will be available. Moreover, under a methodological point of view the introduction of a classification and regression trees (De Nicola et al., 2012) on Malmquist values will let to group the airport management companies respect to the quality components and consequently it will allow to a better identification of the different sources of productive inefficiencies in the Italian airport industry.