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

Chapter 9 – Structure and Governance in Seaport Clusters; Literature Review 119
9.4 Governance and performance in port clusters; research set-up
Table 34 shows the research set-up used for the cases. The survey propositions are derived
from the literature review in the preceding section. Issues for desk research are relevant in
seaports, but have not been addressed in the literature.
Table 34: Research findings, survey questions and issues for expert interviews related to governance.
Issue Relevant research
findings
General The importance of
governance in
ports is not widely
acknowledged
Trust The issue of trust
in port clusters
has not been
studied
Presence of
intermediaries
Presence of
leader firms
Quality of
solutions for
CAP’s
The presence of
intermediaries
adds to the
performance of
port clusters
(Haezendonck,
2001)
Leader firm
behavior in ports
has not been
studied
Marketing and
promotion is a
relevant regime in
seaports (Van
Klink and van
Winden, 1999).
Hinterland access
requires
cooperation.
Forms of
cooperation have
not been studied.
Survey propositions (P1 to P6) and
additional survey questions
P1: Differences in the governance of a
cluster have an effect of the performance
of port clusters.
P1a : The development of port clusters is a
result of the interplay of market forces and
(inter)national policies. The quality of local
governance does not have a substantial
effect on performance.
P2: The level of trust can vary between
port clusters. Trust lowers transaction
costs and thus contributes to the
performance of a port cluster.
P3: The presence of intermediaries adds
to the performance of port clusters,
because these intermediaries lower the
costs of coordination in a cluster.
P4: The presence of embedded leader
firms adds to the performance of port
clusters
P5: The quality of solutions to collective
action problems influences the
performance of the port cluster.
P6: The collective action problem in
seaports is relevant for the issues
innovation, education and training,
marketing and acquisition,
internationalization and hinterland access.
Experts are asked to indicate whether the
five CAP’s are present, the importance of
these CAP’s and the quality of the
solutions to these CAP’s
Issues for expert
interviews and desk
research
What actors play a role in
the governance of the
port?
What is the ‘institutional
structure’ of the port
cluster?
Is there a culture of trust in
the port cluster?
Are reputation effects important
in the port cluster?
How relevant are the
traditional intermediaries?
Are there new kinds of
intermediaries?
What are leader firms in
the three cases? Is it their
strategy to have a positive
impact on the cluster as a
whole?
What forms of cooperation
have developed in
seaports?
How do actors try to create
coalitions to solve CAP’s?
To what extent do port
authorities act as cluster
managers?