...January 2010...REPEP member Thanos Pallis contributes in two newstudies that have just published  Researchin Transportation Economics (vol. 27, no. 1). This special issue  The Port and Maritime Industries in the Post-2008 World: Challenges and Opportunities is edited by Adolf K.Y. Ng, from Hong-Kong Polytechnic University.

Thestudy on Seaports and the Structural Implications of the Economic Crisis and is co-authored by Peter de Langen, Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Science, Eindhoven University of Technology and member of the Department of Corporate Strategy Port of Rotterdam Authority. 

The paper provides an analysis of thestructural effects that the 2008 crisis has on seaports, focusing mostly on developments in Europe. It does so via an examination of (a) the crisis implication for each ofthe four major types of transport flows that account for the vast majority ofport throughput worldwide; (b) the prospects for future capacity organisation and development, given the realignment of the involvement strategies that the various stakeholders (i.e. governments, port authorities,service providers, users, investors) endorse in reaction to the financialtsunami; and (c) the adjustment opportunities, that the trade down turn unintentionally provides, allowing for correction of existing misallocations in the sector via the deployment of relevant adjustment strategies by the related actors. Recapping the identified structural consequences, the final section concludes on the changing role and responsibilities of port authorities and the‘new issues’ that will require further investigation in the post-financialt sunami era. 

The second study is entitled The economics behind the awarding of terminals in seaports: Towards a researchagenda, and is co-authored by Peter de Langen, and Christophe Theys, TheoNotteboom, both at ITMMA, University of Antwerp.  

Terminal concessions in seaports have onlyrecently gained interest in academic circles. Issues such as the allocation mechanisms (to be) used for granting those concessions, the determination ofthe concession term and concessions fees, as well as the inclusion of specialclauses aimed at assuring that the terminal operator willact in the interest ofthe port authority and the wider community, areincreasingly relevant to bothacademics and the port industry. So far, insights from established economic theories have rarely been applied to terminal concessions in seaports. It therefore remains to be seen which kind of awarding procedure would be best forwhich type of terminal concession. This contribution provides a detailed overview of the different phases of the terminal awarding process, including a classification scheme for awarding procedures, andcontains an extensive discussion on the economic issues that require further investigation. The paper concludes by proposing a comprehensive research agendaon the topic.

The final versionof the contribution is available @ [Journal webpage]