A theory on the co-evolution of seaports with application to container terminal development in the Rhine-Scheldt Delta

Wouter Jacobs () and Theo Notteboom

No 1003, Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) from Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography

Abstract: How do seaports evolve in relation to each other? Recent studies in port economics and transport geography focused on how supply chain integration has structurally changed the competitive landscape in which individual ports and port actors operate. Port regionalization has been addressed as the corresponding new phase in the spatial and functional evolution of port systems. However, these studies lack theoretical foundations that allow us to empirically assess both the role of the institutional context and of strategic agency in the competitive (spatial and functional) evolution of regional (integrated) port systems. The paper presents a theoretical framework to analyze and understand the co- evolution of seaports in a regional context by making use of the concept of windows of opportunity. The empirical part will unravel the role of seaport-based co-evolution in the processes aimed at positioning market players and ports on the container scene in the Rhine-Scheldt Delta.

Keywords: co-evolution; seaports; regionalization; institutions; economic geography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O18 O30 R11 R40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 pages
Date: 2010-02, Revised 2010-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-geo and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:egu:wpaper:1003

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