In the pages of this book, Eng Robert Otieno presents his research work in seaport efficiency evaluation. He focuses on four major seaports of Liaoning Province of P. R. China. He compares port resources, throughput and management approaches i.e. level of privatization across the ports and analyzes their influence on technical efficiency of each of the seaports. The aspect of time variance of technical efficiency based on change of resources, throughput and level of private/public participation is captured in the book. The book uses a combination of DEA and stochastic frontier production function model to analyze efficiency characteristics. The findings of the research presented in this book indicate that big seaports like Port of Dalian have low technical efficiencies compared to relatively smaller seaports like Dandong. The optimal level of privatization is found to be 75.27%. The book shows that port management should not only aim to focus on expansion but also ensure effective resource utilization and appropriate level of privatization in order to boost technical efficiency. This is a must read for logistics and supply chain practitioners, students and researchers.

The Author, Eng Robert Kennedy Otieno, currently a civil servant in Kenya, was born in Nairobi, Kenya on 19th February, 1978. He holds MEng Transportation Planning and Management and B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering degrees from Dalian Maritime University and the University of Nairobi. He has published three papers in refereed international journals.