Specialisation is a common strategy followed by ports to face the challenges of globalisation, changes in the naval industry and maritime operations. The main objective of this research is to determine if specialisation and size of ports have an impact on port efficiency. We estimate the efficiency of 27 Spanish ports during the 2001–2011 period using a parametric distance function approach. Our results show that larger and more specialised ports are more highly efficient. From an economics policy perspective, the recommendation would be to encourage the specialisation of ports where possible, and collaboration between ports with different specialisations, as well as those of smaller sizes. This would allow the development of strategic planning that favours coordination between ports, the joint development of infrastructure, and the avoidance of service duplication. This study is a pioneer in estimating the efficiency of the cargo handling service of the Spanish port system including port dockers to measure the labour input, as well as specialisation and size indicators to assess their relevance as drivers of port efficiency.

专业化是港口所面临的共同战略，以应对全球化，海军工业的变化和海上作业的挑战。这项研究的主要目的是确定港口的专业化和规模是否对港口效率产生影响。我们使用参数距离函数方法估算了2001-2011年期间27个西班牙港口的效率。我们的结果表明，更大，更专业的港口效率更高。从经济学政策的角度来看，建议是鼓励在可能的情况下促进港口的专业化，并鼓励具有不同专业以及较小规模的港口之间的合作。这将有助于制定战略规划，有利于港口之间的协调，基础设施的联合开发，并避免服务重复。这项研究是估算西班牙港口系统货物装卸服务效率的先驱，包括用于测量劳动力投入的港口码头工人，以及用以评估其与港口效率驱动因素相关性的专业化和规模指标。