Athanasios A. Pallis

Port Governance Reforms in Diversified Institutional Frameworks: Generic Solutions, Implementation Asymmetries

Bringing in neo-institutional perspectives, this paper investigates the recent corporatisation process of three seaports in Asia and Europe. We focus on whether the newly established seaport governance structures follow a path largely affected by the local/national institutional frameworks and the political traditions in place. Findings confirm that path-dependent decisions largely preserve the institutional characteristics of local/national systems, resulting in implementation asymmetries when different countries seek generic governance solutions.

Assessing port governance models: process and performance components

This paper develops a conceptual framework that integrates various relevant port performance components in a way that can be used for a comprehensive port evaluation and adjustment of existing port governance models. The paper presents a synthesis of the literature on port governance models and port performance, arguing that the process of change is a dynamic one, and that the performance outcome of a reform process influences the next round of reforms. It also explores the potential for decomposing performance into two different, although related, port performances components, namely efficiency and effectiveness. Bringing into the analysis concepts like the need to integrate users’ satisfaction in port performance assessment, the paper explores the content of each of these components and their relationship. This discussion, along with empirical evidence provided by port authorities, leads to the conclusion that governance decisions, both at firm and government levels, are largely based on a very limited assessment of port performance. The effectiveness of port reform is largely neglected, with user perspectives not being an integral part of an effort to improve performance by the port or as feedback to assess the effectiveness of the governance model imposed by the governments port policy.

Port Economics, Policy and Management: Review of an Emerging Research Field

Abstract This paper reviews research in port economics, policy and management during the period 1997–2008. In an increasingly international economy, research interest in ports is gradually emerging. This paper examines the developments, themes and characteristics of this research, by reviewing a comprehensive database consisting of all the 395 relevant journal papers on ports that were published during the period 1997–2008. With the use of quantitative and qualitative bibliometric tools, the paper identifies the characteristics of the port research community (such as the authors’ country of affiliation, number of authors involved and international collaboration rates). It also identifies the main characteristics of this emerging scientific research field (such as research approaches, units of analysis, samples of the ports examined and commodities analysed). Finally, the paper develops a content classification that distinguishes the main research subfields, identifies leading papers for these subfields and uses a cross‐citation analysis to analyse the coherence of the port research field.

Port economics, policy and management : content classification and survey

This paper presents a taxonomy and analysis of the content of published research in port economics, policy and management (port studies). The recent increase of these publications suggests a growing interest in the study of ports. However, the research characteristics and directions of this research field are unidentified. This paper provides a systematic analysis of port studies published during the period 1997–2008. A comprehensive cross-citation and analysis of the themes, approaches and findings of all 395 relevant journal papers identifies the extent to which the research field is maturing, and the leading papers. This paper also presents an extensive analysis of the content, based on the classification of all port studies into seven research themes. For each theme, research topics, widely used research questions, concepts and research methods and the most important research findings are discussed. Finally, we identify emerging research challenges and research questions that still need to be answered.

Analysis of the benefits intra-port competition

Intra-port competition is widely regarded as beneficial, for the competitiveness of ports, for local and national economies and for consumers and exporting industries. The aim of the paper is to analyse the benefits resulting from the presence of intra-port competition. Even though this issue has been addressed before, a thorough and complete overview of the effects of intra-port competition, enabling conditions for intra-port competition and policies in case of lacking intra-port competition are absent. The paper presents first a short overview of previous studies dealing with intra-port competition. Second, it discusses the two main arguments underlying the benefits of intra-port competition. In this context, attention is given to the relation between intra-port and inter-port competition. Third, the paper examines the conditions under which these arguments are valid and intra-port competition can be introduced. Possible policy responses to limited or absent intra-port competition are discussed in this section as well. Fourth, the need to introduce effects of intra-port competition in port modelling is briefly. Finally, the paper presents empirical evidence of the effects of intra-port competition.

Entry barriers in seaports

The different types of entry barrier in seaports are analysed and the policies and practices to reduce them are discussed in this paper. In most seaports, economic, regulatory, and geographical entry barriers are substantial and increasing in complexity as ports become embedded in supply chains and multilayered networks with multiple entry-levels. Various entry barriers in seaports are identified through an overview of the relevant literature and their presence is confirmed by empirical data describing them. The case is then made for lowering these barriers. This would be desirable from an economic point of view, since lower barriers strengthen the contestability of markets and increase the level of intra-port competition. The latter might yield substantial benefits, such as fostering specialization and preventing the abuse of market power. Finally, low entry barriers would facilitate the faster implementation of new technologies and business models. In the third part of the analysis, policies and practices designed to reduce entry barriers are examined. The implications are discussed of current national and supranational (EU) policy initiatives aimed to liberalize service provision in seaports. Other (de)regulatory policies that could contribute to the reduction of entry barriers are analysed.

A systematic approach for evaluating port effectiveness

The objective of this paper is to examine how users evaluate port effectiveness and identify those constructs relevant to that evaluation. The three user groups studied are carriers, cargo interests, and suppliers of services at the port. The study team developed an on-line survey instrument and delivered it to Canadian port users with the assistance of eight industry organizations. The findings of the research are based on the contributions of 57 decision makers with port usage experience, many of whom fit into more than one group of users. The study concludes that the evaluation criteria influencing users’ perceptions of satisfaction, competitiveness, and service delivery effectiveness are different, and so while the determinants of these constructs have considerable overlap, they are different constructs. This paper also illustrates how independent (or third-party) evaluation of port performance might be used by a port to strategically improve its service to users, and therefore have value from a port perspective in its strategic planning.

The financialization of the port and terminal industry: revisiting risk and embeddedness

The paper explores the evolving relationship between the port and terminal industry and the financial sector. Since the financial industry has taken an active role in global economic affairs, understanding global trade and transportation requires more than ever a perspective about financial issues and their impacts on transport operations. Paradoxically, the recent analytical emphasis on the strategies of port operators has rarely focused on one of the fastest and most radical changes ever to affect the maritime and port industries. The paper argues that through the lenses of financial issues—financialization—a unique dimension of the maritime industry can be understood. It analyses how a changing pattern in risk perception has supported a bubble in the period 2002 to 2008 and how financial interests in the industry have repositioned themselves since the start of the economic crisis in 2008. The analysis demonstrates how since then, the financial sector is—reluctantly—rediscovering the risks that are part of the maritime industry, notably those related to business cycles.

Passenger ports: services provision and their benefits

The paper discusses an under-researched segment of the port and maritime business: passenger ports and port services. A survey conducted in the 20 major European passenger ports leads to the identification and classification of the different services provided in passenger ports. Then the paper examines the public and private benefits produced by the provision of those services that are provided in all passenger ports. It does so via (a) literature review and brainstorming sessions with experts that result in a list of potential benefits produced and (b) application of a modified Analytical Hierarchical Approach (AHP) that acts as a useful methodological tool towards an understanding of the exact distribution of the private and public benefits. A dataset of replies to a questionnaire, which is developed along the lines of the AHP, provides empirical data as regards the produced public and private benefits in the case study of the Piraeus passenger port.

Terminal concessions in seaports revisited

1. Rationale for the special issue In many countries around the world, governments and public port authorities have retreated from port operations in the belief that enterprise-based port services and operations would allow for greater flexibility and efficiency in the market (through more competition) and a better response to consumers’ demands. In this new environment, the awarding of port terminals to private operators has become a common practice. This can take different forms ranging from management contracts/leases to BOT arrangements, with each type having specific modalities with regard to the spread of investments and of risks. In particular, concession policy has become a powerful governance tool for port managers. Compared with the sale of assets to private operators, concession policy allows port authorities to retain some control on the organisation and structure of the supply side of the port market. The management of terminal concessions and leases in seaports is complex and confronts port authorities and government agencies with important questions related to the procedures for selecting the most appropriate operators for their scarce land, and the conditions under which these private companies can be given the right to operate the facilities. Awarding bodies often encounter considerable difficulties in the various phases of the concession process. The issue of terminal award processes has not received a lot of attention in academic circles, while it has become a key issue in port management and governance. The topic has only recently started attracting academic interest and, as a result, the number of scientific papers dealing with concession issues in seaports is still fairly small and recent. In one of the earlier works on the topic Notteboom [1] situates seaport concessions within the broader literature on public–privatepartnerships (PPP) and stresses their function as port governance tools. Theys et al. [2] present an extensive overview of different types of terminal awarding procedures and propose an elaborate research agenda for academia. Pallis et al. [3] illustrate how terminal concessions might lead to the creation of entry barriers, while Juan et al. [4] discuss a quantitative methodology for designing concession agreements for the port of Valencia involving regular concession fees and a oneoff lump-sum goodwill payment. Engel et al. [5] suggest awarding terminal concessions on the basis of a Demsetz-alike auction with an upfront payment and a floor-set cargo handling fee, applied to the Chilean ports of Valparaı́so and San Antonio. Ferrari and Basta [6] propose a DEA approach to calculate concession fees for Italian ports.