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Suárez-Alemán, Ancor

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Suárez-Alemán, Ancor, Suárez Alemán, Ancor, Suarez-Aleman, Ancor, Suarez Aleman, Ancor, Suárez, Ancor
Fields of Specialization
Infrastructure economics, Transport policy, Port economics, Competition, Regulation
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ORCID
0000-0001-5271-9517
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Last updated: January 31, 2023
Biography
Ancor Suárez-Alemán is an economist whose research focuses on infrastructure, transport policy, port economics, efficiency, competition, and regulation. He has consulted on infrastructure projects for the Spanish government, the European Union, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank. He has published his research in a number of peer-reviewed journals. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain).

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    How Does Port Efficiency Affect Maritime Transport Costs and Trade?: Evidence from Indian and Western Pacific Ocean Countries
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-09) Jooste, Charl; Herrera Dappe, Matias; Suárez-Alemán, Ancor
    Would improvements in port performance increase trade in countries on the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans? Previous studies attempted to answer this question using ad hoc measures of port efficiency that do not control for the actual use of port assets or measures that can be very noisy. To avoid these problems, this paper builds a measure of economic efficiency based on the use of port inputs to deliver port output. Using data envelop analysis, it ranks countries on the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans in terms of their port efficiency, and assesses the effect of increased efficiency. It finds that becoming as efficient as the country with the most efficient port sector would reduce their average maritime transport costs by up to 14 percent and increase their exports by up to 2.2 percent.
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    Competitiveness of South Asia’s Container Ports: A Comprehensive Assessment of Performance, Drivers, and Costs
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016-10-31) Herrera Dappe, Matías; Suárez-Alemán, Ancor
    South Asia’s trade almost doubled in the past decade, but the share of trade in GDP is still smaller (47 percent) than in East Asia (55 percent), and South Asia’s economic competitiveness continues to lag that of other regions. Part of the problem is the region’s container ports. As a result of inefficiencies, the average cost of exporting or importing a container in the region is more than twice what it is in East Asia. Better port logistics could help increase trade, diversify exports, attract more foreign direct investment, and spur economic growth. As container traffic continues to grow and physical expansion is constrained by the limited supply of available land at most ports, the best way to improve port performance is by increasing productivity. To identify strategies for doing so, this report examines the performance of the 14 largest container ports in the region based on two sets of criteria: operational performance and economic performance. To measure operational performance, the report benchmarks total time at port, waiting time at port, and idle time as a share of total time at berth. To measure economic performance, it benchmarks productivity and efficiency using two useful techniques: Malmquist total factor productivity decomposition and data envelopment analysis. The report identifies key drivers of port performance and examines how differences in performance across ports are related to those drivers. This analysis is based on an original dataset on private sector participation, governance, and competition in South Asia’s container port sector. To highlight the potential gains from improving performance of container ports, the report uses econometric techniques to isolate the impact of efficiency improvements on maritime transport costs and trade. The results suggest that the best strategy for improving port performance in the region is a three-pronged approach that (a) encourages private sector participation through a well-developed enabling environment, including further adoption of the “landlord” port model; (b) strengthens the governance of port authorities’ boards; and (c) promotes competition between and within ports, in part through transparent and competitive concession bidding.
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    Publication
    Competitiveness of South Asia's Container Ports: A Comprehensive Assessment of Performance, Drivers and Costs
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-10) Herrera Dappe, Matias; Suárez-Alemán, Ancor
    South Asia’s seaports are crucial to the region’s economy. The region transports 75 percent of thevalue of its exports and imports by sea. Shipments are concentrated at the 14 largest container ports, which handle close to 100 percent of total container traffic. The performance of these ports has a crucial effect on the competitiveness of the region’s trade. Even though the South Asian port sector has experienced significant changes since the late 1990s — when the governments of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka reformed their port sectors to allow private participation—the performance of South Asia’s ports has received little attention. The World Bank undertook a comprehensive assessment of South Asia’s container ports to support South Asian governments and stakeholders in the sector. It sought to understand the links between performance and its drivers and costs and to identify whether and how performance might be improved. The study proposes an approach for improvement based on regional and global experience.