¹Faculty of Business Administration, Yokohama National University, 79-4, Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-0067, Japan. E-mail: managi@ynu.ac.jp

Abstract

The maritime shipping industry has experienced significant technological and management changes over the past several decades. This study analyses the total factor productivity of Japan's shipping industry by applying the Luenberger productivity indicator from 1996 to 2005. This is a nonparametric frontier analysis technique, which allows for inefficiency of the production unit. We find large productivity increases in three major maritime shipping firms in Japan, although the magnitudes are different among firms and the general industry trend is declining.