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

English Summary 257
• The innovation regime is modest in all three ports, in Rotterdam because there is no
‘community spirit’. The internationalization regime is also modest in all three cases.
• Leader firm involvement is an advantage for Rotterdam ‘across the board’.
• All fifteen regimes that have been analyzed have shortcomings. Experts have indicated
opportunities for improving all regimes. In most cases, this requires joint efforts to
collect relevant ‘market intelligence’.
The comparison of competing port clusters
Rotterdam has three weaknesses compared to Antwerp: the level of land prices, the supply
of labor and the quality of collective action regimes. Compared to Hamburg, only the level of
land prices is a weakness. A strength of Rotterdam compared to both competitors is the
presence of knowledge. Compared to Hamburg, Rotterdam is also more diverse and
endowed with more customers and suppliers in the cluster. The added value in Rotterdam
increased more in Rotterdam’s port cluster than in Antwerp, while cargo volumes were lost
to Antwerp. This can be explained with the strengths and weaknesses: especially cargo
handling is sensitive to land prices and labor costs and quality.
Durban’s port cluster is competitive compared to Richard’s Bay: the cluster is more diverse,
the knowledge base is better, there is more leader firm involvement and the number of
suppliers and customers in the cluster is higher. Furthermore, Durban is a ‘high trust cluster’.
Disadvantages are the high land prices and congestion. The cargo throughput statistics are
in line with these strengths and weaknesses: Durban remains South Africa’s leading port
and does not lose cargo to other ports.
The LMPC is a cluster in decline: Houston has advantages in terms of collective action
regimes, trust, presence of customers, suppliers and intermediaries and diversity of the
cluster. The LMPC’s only advantage is less congestion. The throughput figures support this
conclusion; the LMPC has lost considerable market share. Furthermore, the cluster does not
attract highly skilled economic activities.