Francesca Medda

Short-sea shipping: an analysis of its determinants

Recent trends in production such as global sourcing, just-in-time deliveries and fragmented production chains have determined clear patterns in relation to growth in demand for freight transport. Although road transport has adapted better to the needs of this modern economy, congestion threatens to overwhelm overland carriage and limit economic growth. The transportation industry faces the challenge of developing an efficient and effective complement to the existing road system. One possible strategy is to revitalize coastal shipping such as Short-Sea Shipping (SSS). The objective of this article is to carry out a literature review and show how SSS can alleviate traffic congestion and enhance economic development by maintaining freight flow efficiency. Because ship transport offers higher fuel economy and lower emissions of harmful pollutants, SSS is considered to be one of the most sustainable and economically competitive modes of transport.

Growth of Container Seaborne Traffic in the Mediterranean Basin: Outlook and Policy Implications for Port Development

Abstract New trends in container shipping activities operating in the Mediterranean region represent an interesting process now underway, which induces socio‐economic development of the region as a whole. This work examines the causes of the containerization process within the Mediterranean basin and pays particular attention to the recent evolution of ports. It identifies two specific categories of ports now in operation in the basin for container traffic. Moreover, it analyses the reason for the recent upsurge in development and growth of transhipment ports. In this context, an understanding of the policy, economy, and technological frameworks and approaches that have been, and continue to be, the backbone for ongoing development of modern Mediterranean shipping activity allows one to outline strategies for future development of the basin.

Short sea shipping as intermodal competitor: a theoretical analysis of European transport policies

Despite the European Union (EU) efforts promoting policies that encourage short sea shipping (SSS) based on its advantages in terms of intermodality and environment, this mode has not yet reached a significant market share compared to land transport. In this paper, we establish a thesis that suggests that funding programs (such as Marco Polo I and II) have not properly offered the right incentives to promote SSS, and aspects such as the key role of port infrastructure and its characteristics, have not been taken into consideration. In a departure from traditional transport cost models, to prove our thesis, we use a theoretical intermodal competition model to compare alternative modes—road transport vs. SSS. We reach the conclusion that the EU needs to focus on ports and transport system efficiency as a whole in order to compete effectively in the freight transport market.

Demographic Decline, Population Aging, and Modern Financial Approaches to Urban Policy

This article discusses the interaction between demographic aging, population decline, and various aspects of the local development challenges facing public authorities. In particular, this article examines some of the financial issues arising from population aging and decline and the ways in which new approaches to public finance are being used in support of European Union regional and urban policy. In this context, it is argued that a comprehensive portfolio investment approach has the potential to significantly improve policy effectiveness.

Attracting private sector participation in infrastructure investment: the UK case

Infrastructure investments are often considered by governments that are looking for private sector investment in infrastructure. However, private investors tend to have a cautious attitude towards this class of investments. This paper focuses on the UKs financial and regulatory drawbacks to infrastructure investment. The authors conclude that regulatory conditions are key levers for the UK government to attract increased private sector participation.

The Diversification Delta: A Higher-Moment Measure for Portfolio Diversification

The concept of diversification is central in finance and has become even more so since the 2008 financial crisis. In this article, the authors introduce a new measure for diversification. The measure, referred to as “diversification delta,” is nonparametric, based on higher moments, easily interpretable due to its mathematical formulation, and incorporates the advantages of the present measures of diversification while extending them. The measure is applied to infrastructure returns data in order to understand the benefits of diversifying across various infrastructure classes, gaining useful insights for infrastructure fund managers and investors.

Port infrastructure efficiency: the Europe-Mediterranean case

The objective of this research is to estimate the infrastructure efficiency of individual ports, to investigate factors that influence efficiency and to shed light on infrastructure investment strategies. Thirty-two container ports in Europe-Mediterranean area have been assessed using stochastic frontier analysis. The result indicates the exogenous (environmental) factors, trading volume, which has a strong impact on port efficiency. Moreover, the infrastructure efficiency is improving over time, but the annual percentage change in output is slower than the technological change. This phenomenon is suggested due to over capacity, one of the most featured characteristics in container port industry. Different investment strategies to utilise and control over capacity in port management practice have been explored and suggested.

Measuring the scope of inter-firm agreements in the container shipping industry: an empirical assessment

In container shipping industry inter-firm agreements are becoming progressively popular as ship-owners share their slot capacity with commercial partners in order to have fully loaded container ships and reduce financial risk. This manuscript focuses on the cooperative agreements among shipping firms, i.e., vessel sharing and slot charter agreements within consortia and strategic alliances. Through a quantitative approach based on network and OLS regression analysis, we scrutinise the propensity to cooperate, the geographic extent and ‘leveraging effect’ generated by this commercial practise on the container-shipping industry. Results show that carriers, usually regarded as independent, are instead fairly cooperative, especially when involved in trade lanes originating from the Far East. Finally, we show that carriers increase their commercial objectives by leveraging the operated fleet capacity. We conclude with some implications for managers and practitioners as well as a discussion on limitations and future extensions of this study.

A Morphogenetic Perspective on Spatial Complexity

A modern city is a complex entity characterized by a plurality of behaviour, volatility of interactions, and mobility of residents. It is in a permanent state of flux due to dynamic forces that impact on its functional structure and its spatial configuration (Ingram 1998). Urban dynamics often mirrors fundamental changes in a transport system and its spatial spillovers (Crane 2000; Handy 1996). The externality dimensions of urban growth often relate to congestion and detrimental environmental effects due to car usage (air pollution, noise, accidents); for this reason, a proper investigation of evolving urban forms, and their patterns of change, could potentially be a means of understanding and combating urban sprawl, reducing automobile dependence, increasing the use of alternative transport modes, and supporting pedestrian mobility.

Dataset of the livability performance of the City of Birmingham, UK, as measured by its citizen wellbeing, resource security, resource efficiency and carbon emissions

This data article presents the UK City LIFE1 data set for the city of Birmingham, UK. UK City LIFE1 is a new, comprehensive and holistic method for measuring the livable sustainability performance of UK cities. The Birmingham data set comprises 346 indicators structured simultaneously (1) within a four-tier, outcome-based framework in order to aid in their interpretation (e.g., promote healthy living and healthy long lives, minimize energy use, uncouple economic vitality from CO2 emissions) and (2) thematically in order to complement government and disciplinary siloes (e.g., health, energy, economy, climate change). Birmingham data for the indicators are presented within an Excel spreadsheet with their type, units, geographic area, year, source, link to secondary data files, data collection method, data availability and any relevant calculations and notes. This paper provides a detailed description of UK city LIFE1 in order to enable comparable data sets to be produced for other UK cities. The Birmingham data set is made publically available at http://epapers.bham.ac.uk/3040/ to facilitate this and to enable further analyses. The UK City LIFE1 Birmingham data set has been used to understand what is known and what is not known about the livable sustainability performance of the city and to inform how Birmingham City Council can take action now to improve its understanding and its performance into the future (see “Improving city-scale measures of livable sustainability: A study of urban measurement and assessment through application to the city of Birmingham, UK” Leach et al. [2]).