Title: A literature review of port competition research

Authors: Ioannis N. Lagoudis; Ioannis Theotokas; Dimitrios Broumas

Addresses: Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain Innovation, MIT Global SCALE Network, No. 2A, Persiaran Tebar Layar, Seksyen U8, Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam, 40150, Selangor, Malaysia; Research in Shipping and Ports (RESHIP) Laboratory, Department of Shipping, Trade and Transport, University of the Aegean, 2A Korai Str., 82132, Chios Island, Greece ' Research in Shipping and Ports (RESHIP) Laboratory, Department of Shipping, Trade and Transport, University of the Aegean, 2A Korai Str., 82132, Chios Island, Greece ' MBA Program, School of Social Sciences, Hellenic Open University, 18 Parodos Aristotelous, 26335, Patra, Greece

Abstract: Research interest in the port industry has increased significantly in recent decades, due to the integration of ports in global supply chain strategies. Ports globally are facing strong competitive pressures in order to meet modern demand characteristics. The motivation behind this work has been to analyse the works present in academic journals, which fall under the port competition umbrella and identify niche areas of research. The study provides detailed analysis of the different research angles of port competition being port selection, port productivity and port competitiveness. Results show that most works focus on topics related to port selection, efficiency, performance and competitiveness. Room for future research appears to be in the areas of geographic comparisons of ports and terminals, financial indicators linked with environmental efficiency, efficiency in liquefied and liquid cargo terminals, port competitiveness and IT systems, port management related issues to strategy and marketing management and finally intra-port competition.

Keywords: port; competition; literature review.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTL.2017.086940

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, 2017 Vol.9 No.6, pp.724 - 762

Received: 25 Jun 2015
Accepted: 11 May 2016
Published online: 03 Oct 2017 *

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