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

Chapter 10 – Structure and Performance in Seaport Clusters; Results of the Cases 133
A second set of questions deals with the importance of three dimensions of diversity, and
the diversity of the three port clusters (see Table 43). Both importance and the diversity of
the cluster are measured on a scale from 1 (not important/diverse) to 5 (very
important/diverse).
Table 43: Importance of diversity
Type of diversity LMPC Durban Rotterdam Importance overall
International scope 4.2 4.0 4.0 4.1
Economic activities 4.5** 3.9 3.7 3.9
Firm size 3.3 3.3 3.1 3.2*
Scale from 1 (not important) to 5 (very important)
* Significantly lower than other scores
** Significantly higher than in two other clusters
Both diversity of international scope and diversity of economic activities are regarded as
important dimensions of cluster diversity. Diversity of firm size is less important. Experts
were asked to judge the diversity of their cluster. The scores are given in Table 44.
Table 44: The diversity of the cluster according to experts
Type of diversity Score Durban Score LMPC Score Rotterdam
International scope 3.5 2.9** 4.2*
Economic activities 3.9 3.2** 3.9
Firm size 3.8 3.2** 3.8
Scale from 1 (not diverse) to 5 (very diverse)
* Significantly higher than other clusters
** Significantly lower than other two clusters
These results show that the LMPC experts rate the diversity of their cluster as moderate.
The data analysis and interviews support this judgment: the vast majority of firms in the
LMPC are local branches of (inter)national firms that are not committed to the LMPC. Most
branches hardly have any ‘strategic content’: strategic decisions are made elsewhere. There
are hardly any headquarters of large firms in the LMPC.