Rosa Puertas

The importance of the Logistics Performance Index in international trade

Logistics and transport increasingly play a pivotal role in international trade relations. The Logistics Performance Index (LPI) analyses differences between countries in terms of customs procedures, logistics costs and the quality of the infrastructure for overland and maritime transport. The aim of this article is to analyse the impact that each of these components has on trade in emerging economies using a gravity model. Furthermore, the study also attempts to detect possible advances in logistics in developing countries, which are grouped into five regions (Africa, South America, Far East, Middle East and Eastern Europe) by comparing the first LPI data published in 2007 with the most recent data, released in 2012. The results obtained reveal that improvements in any of the components of the LPI can lead to significant growth in a country’s trade flows. Specifically, LPI components are becoming increasingly important for international trade in many countries in Africa, South America and Eastern Europe.

A DEA-logistics performance index

Logistics and transport increasingly play a pivotal role in international trade relations. The Logistics Performance Index (LPI) measures the on-the-ground efficiency of trade supply chains or logistics performance. The aim of this paper is to propose a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach to compute a synthetic index of overall logistics performance (DEA-LPI) and benchmark the logistics performance of the countries with LPI. Dealing with the six dimensions of LPI, the proposed approach uses DEA as a tool for multiple criteria decision making (MCDM). Furthermore, the paper also analyses the potential differences observed when using different variables, namely income and geographical area. Our findings suggest that the logistics performance depends largely on income and geographical area. High income countries are in the group of best performers, which is highly dominated by the EU.

Relevance of trade facilitation in emerging countries' exports

The objective of this article is to analyse trade flows in emerging nations with a maritime boundary, where trade facilitation plays a decisive role in their international development. In order to detect possible patterns in performance, we apply the economic approach of gravity models using the World Bank Logistic Performance Index (LPI) as a good proxy of trade facilitation. The results of the estimation lead to the conclusion that the more complex the transportation of goods is, the more influential the logistics indicator, trade facilitation being most prominent in Middle East exporters.

Modelos Paramétricos y no Paramétricos en Problemas de Credit Scoring

RESUMEN Dada la importancia creciente que esta cobrándose la actividad crediticia en la gestión diaria de los bancos, comienza a ser imprescindible la utilización de modelos de clasificación automáticos que faciliten la concesión o no del crédito solicitado con alto grado de exactitud, de manera que permita reducir la morosidad. En el trabajo que presentamos se realiza un exhaustivo estudio de la capacidad predictiva de dos modelos paramétricos (Análisis Discriminante y Logit) y cinco no paramétricos (Árboles de regresión, Redes Neuronales Artificiales, Algoritmo C4.5, Splines de Regresión Adaptativa Multivariante y Regresión Localmente Ponderada) en un problema de concesión de tarjetas de crédito.

Efficiency of airlines: Hub and Spoke versus Point-to-Point

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to study the efficiency and financial situation of Spanish airlines by conducting a comparative analysis of those operating in hubs and those that employ the point-to-point system. Design/methodology/approach - – Data envelopment analysis and accounting rates are implemented to do so. Findings - – The results show that hubs do not result in the companies that use them being efficient. Instead, it is the charter, low-cost and private flight operators that best manage their resources. Originality/value - – The study makes a novel contribution to the literature, as there has been no research on Spanish airlines that compares the two types of operators (hubs and point to point).

Factors determining the trade costs of major european exporters

The aim of this paper is to analyse the factors determining trade costs in the top European exporting nations. We have estimated an explanatory equation for trade costs to determine the importance of logistical performance and other variables that may be key to determining the cost of trade. The results reveal the substantial importance of logistics in determining trade costs, which exceeds that of distance. The results also indicate that logistics are more relevant in those countries where costs are lower. This analysis allows establishing conclusions about what type of improvements will lead to cost reductions and, therefore, to greater international competitiveness. It has been conducted for two years, also facilitating the detection of possible changes that can in turn reveal the existence of a behaviour pattern in these countries. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/ICBM.2015.1253