Michaël Dooms

Towards a meta-analysis and toolkit for port-related socio-economic impacts: a review of socio-economic impact studies conducted for seaports

Port authorities increasingly need to communicate with a variety of external stakeholders in order to maintain and strengthen the societal acceptance of seaport activities. The availability of socio-economic impact studies on port authority and regional development agency websites has often made this information accessible to the public at large. However, the differences in methodologies adopted, in terms of selecting, defining and measuring various types of socio-economic impacts, sometimes lead to misconceptions as well as misleading comparisons across ports within and between regions. In this paper, we suggest guidelines for the design and application of a potential best practice from an interregional perspective (UK, France and Belgium), based on research in the framework of a European Commission co-funded project, ‘IMPACTE’. The paper also aims to develop guidelines for comparing the socio-economic impacts of ports across regional and national borders and discusses the development of a European port economic impact measurement toolkit. We analyse a sample of 33 recent socio-economic impact assessment reports in terms of methodologies adopted and types of impacts measured. The review shows a great diversity among these studies, leading to important differences between the impacts of port activity communicated to stakeholders.

Transaction cost analysis of public infrastructure delivery

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a systematic assessment of the magnitude of transaction costs of public infrastructure delivery, based on the three attributes of transaction costs, being the asset specificity, uncertainty and frequency of a transaction. Design/methodology/approach – Non-parametric tests were used to test the transaction cost differences between different procurement types. Findings – The authors find empirical support, based on a sample of 172 public infrastructure projects in Belgium, that construction firms make higher relation specific investments to their transaction partners under a public-private partnership (PPP) than a under a traditional public procurement (TPP). In addition, the authors found that PPP transactions are burdened by a greater uncertainty and a less mature market than TPP transactions. Research limitations/implications – Given the complexity of this research, the scope is limited to: a strict distinction between two procurement types, one geographica...

Port industry performance management: a meso-level gap in literature and practice?

Over the past decades, literature has been focusing increasingly on performance management. A great deal of studies have pointed out that performance management has evolved from mere financial measurements to a multitude of indicators, and that the subject being measured can range from micro-level (an organisation), meso-level (industry) to macro-level (regional or national) performance. The authors will research which academic literature has focused on the performance measurement and management of the meso-level and how that is translated in practice, with special attention for the port industry. In practice, the authors observe that mostly so-called ‘observatories’ are responsible for monitoring the performance of infrastructure industries. Within this context the authors will examine the cooperative efforts of the past 20 years between universities and the European port industry. Based on this analysis, research and policy recommendations will be made on industry performance management, with specific consideration for port industry performance management.

Socioeconomic Performance Assessment of Port Clusters

Abstract Performance indicators on socioeconomic impacts of seaport activities are important instruments in supporting and strengthening the societal acceptance of these activities, and they are frequently reported in port sustainability reports. However, the use of these indicators for the purpose of gaining broader acceptance for seaport activities and port expansion is limited and has been questioned by scholars, as well as different stakeholders within the seaport environment. Recognizing the problems associated with these indicators, through evaluating the building of a measurement system at a European level, this chapter particularly focuses on (1) the results of a stakeholder consultation on methodological aspects of socioeconomic impact calculation in 58 European ports, (2) the results of the attempt to develop a top-down harmonized calculation method for calculating socioeconomic indicators for all European core ports, and (3) the results of developing a proxy-based methodology to allow seaports to calculate basic socioeconomic impacts. Findings discuss variable and data specifications needed for future possibilities for building such measurement systems as well as on institutional requirements.

Stakeholder Management for Port Sustainability: Moving From Ad-Hoc to Structural Approaches

Abstract In this chapter, we critically review the stakeholder management literature applied to port(s) and port authorities, in terms of stakeholder identification and mapping. For each contribution, we discuss the main stakeholders identified and the context(s) within which the research took place. Based on the reviewed contributions, we conclude on the generic stakeholders identified across all contributions and highlight the rising importance of local community inclusion for port sustainability. Based on these insights, we formulate ideas for further research as well as managerial implications and discuss structural approaches such as sustainability reporting and license to operate measurement. For stakeholder-inclusive port planning purposes, we identify and discuss six major elements for consideration in future port planning and design processes, with the aim to achieve a more sustainable port development.