Novel Indexes to Measure Competitiveness of Container Shipping Companies

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to propose novel and efficient competitiveness indexes to measure the level of competition among container shipping operators based on a specific region. These indexes should require only basic data, which is full container throughput on the basis of terminal/ hinterland and ship operator. This study takes advantages of two methods to propose novel indexes as alternatives to Herfindahl Hirschman Index (HHI), which is very popular to measure level of competition. Originally named Competition-based Overall Similarity Measurement Index (COSMI) and Entropy Competitiveness Index (ECI) utilize overall similarity measure from clustering analysis and entropy methodologies, respectively. Both indexes have been proposed with two variants for each. COSMI200+ ignores the throughput of each SO having an amount less than 200 Twentyfoot Equivalent Units (TEUs), but COSMITOP5 takes into account only the top 5 SOs in terms of local throughput in a hinterland. ECI-JOINT includes a joint entropy coefficient which is constant for each hinterland, but ECI-VAR takes into account a variable entropy coefficient defined by the number of ship operators in each hinterland. Analyzing a dataset for the terminals located in Turkey, the Entropy Competitiveness Index (by means of ECI-JOINT variant) has been exhibited as a good alternative to HHI with a great correlation coefficient with it: 0.97. Theoretically, Competitionbased Overall Similarity Measurement Index (by means of COSMITOP5 variant) seems a promising method, but it is highly affected by outliers and inconstant numbers of ship operators per route, indicating a moderate correlation coefficient with HHI: 0.45.

Keywords

• Cluster analysis,Competitiveness index,Entropy,Maritime container transportation,Overall Similarity Measurement

Konteyner Taşımacılık Şirketlerinin Rekabet Düzeyini Ölçen Yeni İndeksler

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı, belli bir bölge bazlı olarak konteyner gemi operatörleri arasındaki rekabet seviyesini ölçmeye yarayan yeni ve etkin rekabet indeksleri oluşturmaktır. Bu indeksler terminal/bölge ve gemi operatörü bazlı olarak, sadece başlıca verilerden olan dolu konteyner sevkiyat verilerine ihtiyaç duymalıdır. Bu çalışma, rekabet seviyesi ölçümünde popüler olan Herfindahl Hirschman İndeksine (HHI) alternatif yeni indeksler oluşturabilmek için iki farklı yöntemden yararlanmaktadır. Özgün olarak Rekabet Bazlı Toplam Benzerlik Ölçüsü İndeksi (COSMI) ve Entropi Rekabet İndeksi (ECI) olarak adlandırılan bu indeksler, sırasıyla kümeleme analizi toplam benzerlik ölçüsü ve entropi yöntemlerinden yararlanmaktadırlar. Çalışmada her iki indeksin ikişer uyarlaması incelenmiştir. COSMI200+, bir lokal bölgedeki 200 TEU’dan daha az yükleme-tahliye performansı gösteren gemi operatörlerini gözardı ederken, COSMITOP5 sadece en yüksek performansa sahip 5 gemi operatörünü dikkate almaktadır. ECI-JOINT uyarlamasında sabit olan ortak bir entropi katsayısı kullanılırken, ECI-VAR uyarlamasında her bir lokal bölgedeki gemi operatörü sayısına göre değişen entropi katsayısı kullanılmaktadır. Türkiye’de mukim terminallere ait verilerin analizi, Entropi Rekabet İndeksi’nin (ECI-JOINT uyarlaması ile) HHI ile 0,97 değerinde korelasyon katsayısına sahip olduğunu ve bu indekse iyi bir alternatif olduğunu göstermektedir. Teorik olarak Rekabet Bazlı Toplam Rekabet Ölçüsü İndeksi (COSMITOP5 uyarlaması ile) umut veren bir yöntemi barındırsa da, dışadüşenler ve rota bazlı değişken gemi operatörü sayısı nedeniyle HHI ile 0,45 değerinde orta dereceli bir korelasyon katsayısına sahiptir.

Keywords

• Deniz konteyner taşımacılığı,Entropi,Kümeleme analizi,Rekabet indeksi,Toplam Benzerlik Ölçüsü

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