Assessment of efficiency in privatized airports

Abstract Since the mid-1990s, and in several temporary phases, the main Colombian airports have been privatized. Based on this, it is of great interest to know, analyze and even measure the technical efficiency of airports in a context of structural reform, that is, to evaluate the influence of the privatization of airports on efficiency and a relationship ''before-after''. The methodology used to carry out the study is the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). This methodology is used to estimate the relative efficiency of 16 airports (now privatized) in Colombia and at a comparative level, that is, in three specific consecutive scenarios: public management, transition, private management. The methodology uses typical ''technical variables'' (used in similar investigations). The main results of the research reveal much higher global efficiency rates when the management of airports is completely private (that is, carried out 100% by a private operator) with respect to when they were managed by the public sector.