Ownership forms matter for airport efficiency: A stochastic frontier investigation of worldwide airports

We study the effects of ownership forms on airports' cost efficiency by applying stochastic frontier analysis to a panel data of the world's major airports. Our key findings are: (a) Countries considering privatization of airports should transfer majority shares to the private sector; (b) Mixed ownership of airport with a government majority should be avoided in favor of even 100% government owned public firm; (c) US airports operated by port authorities should consider to transfer ownership/management to independent airport authorities; and (d) Privatization of one or more airports in cities with multiple airports would improve the efficiency of all airports.