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The Performance of Seaport Clusters
hinterland. In other cargo handling markets, where shippers have contracts with terminal
operators, monopoly pricing for captive customers is possible.
Even when the ‘monopoly argument’ is not valid, internal competition does add to the
performance of a port cluster when at least one of the other two arguments - the vibrant
environment argument and the specialization argument - hold. These arguments for
promoting internal competition are not (widely) used in the port industry. This issue is
addressed in the interviews with experts.
9.1.3 Cluster barriers
The influence of cluster entry and exit barriers on performance has not been studied in port
clusters 69 . Nevertheless, the European Union directive (The port package, European
Commission, 2001) emphasizes the importance of market access in seaports. The
commission argues that market access is limited in many European seaports.
9.1.4 Heterogeneity of the cluster population
The issue of firm heterogeneity in port clusters has not received serious academic attention.
Winkelmans (1984) touches on the issue when he argues that:
It is important to acknowledge that a port and the port region are one entity (…).
When one part is not, or not sufficiently present, the whole entity functions less
well. The commercial function is a good example: one easily ignores the fact that
the attractiveness of a port is largely influenced by the presence of trading
companies, banks, insurance companies and auctions. Such activities are, on top
of that, more difficult to develop than the traditional port infrastructure
(Winkelmans, 1984, p 6 translation Peter de Langen).
In Winkelmans' words, ‘the sum is more than the individual components’. Winkelmans does
not provide a theoretical argument to substantiate this claim, the arguments provided in the
theoretical part of this study are not explicitly mentioned, but are in line with Winkelmans’
claim.