The Performance of Seaport Clusters - RePub - Erasmus Universiteit ...

Chapter 9 – Structure and Governance in Seaport Clusters; Literature Review 111
9.3 Governance and performance in seaports; literature review
In the theoretical part, four performance variables related to the governance of a cluster
were identified. For each of those, the port specific literature is reviewed.
9.3.1 The relation between cluster governance and cluster performance
The concept ‘cluster governance’ has not been applied to seaport clusters; it is a new
approach for analyzing seaports. The role of port authorities 70 has been studied extensively
(Goss, 1990A and 1990B, Stevens, 1999). Notwithstanding the important roles of port
authorities 71 , limiting the analysis of cluster governance to an analysis of the port authority is
shortsighted, because it neglects the roles of other actors in the governance of a port
cluster. The behavior of the port authority is conditioned by the behavior of other actors in
the cluster and port authorities are ‘responsive’ to initiatives from the private sector. This
implies that the role of the private sector should receive attention when analyzing
governance in port clusters.
9.3.2 Trust
Even though the notion of a port community has been dealt with (Fleming, 1987) the issue of
trust in clusters has not been analyzed. Haezendonck (2001) shows that both cooperation
within the cluster and cooperation with actors outside the cluster are relevant; she does not
analyze what factors influence cooperation or the role of trust in enabling cooperation.
70 Stevens (1999) for instance analyzed the institutional position of port authorities in seaports, but
nevertheless the title of his book is ‘the institutional position of seaports’.
71 Drewry Shipping Consultants put it like this: ‘The modern port can be described as a community
of independent enterprises tied together by a common interest in maritime affairs. Central to this
community is an entity known as the port authority, always a regulator, usually a landowner,
often a developer and sometimes a terminal operator’ (Drewry Shipping Consultants, 1998, p
6).