COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PORT COMPETITIVENESS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: FROM THE THAI CONTAINER PORTS’ PERSPECTIVE

이 논문의 목적은 동남아 지역에서의 컨테이너항만간 경쟁력 특히 태국의 Laem Chabang 컨테이너항만의 경쟁력을 알아보기 위해 인근의 몇몇 관련 항만들 사이의 경쟁력을 분석하고 평가하는 데에 있다. 이 연구에서는 두 가지 관점에서 연구를 진행하였다. 즉 우선적으로 태국 컨테이너항의 경쟁력 파악을 위해 태국의 컨테이너항만 산업환경에 대해 살펴본 후, 인근 경쟁항만과 관련하여 태국 컨테이너항의 잠재적 경쟁력 제고를 위해서는 어떠한 기준과 방안들이 있는가를 파악하고자 하였다. 이를 위해 이 논문에서는 정성적 및 정량적인 분석 방법을 동시에 사용하였다. 즉 설문 조사, 인터뷰 그리고 현장 조사를 통해 얻은 자료를 이용하여 계량적 분석을 시도하였다. 구체적인 기법으로는 요인분석과 주성분분석 방법을 통해 얻은 항만경쟁력 결정변수를 AHP 기법을 이용하여 인근 항만과 비교를 시도하였으며, 이를 통해 태국 컨테이너항만의 경쟁력 파악 및 이의 제고를 위한 방안을 제시하고 자 하였다. 이상의 결과를 요약컨대, 태국 컨테이너항만 산업과 관련하여 여러 면에서 부정적인 요소가 있음을 알 수 있었다. 그러나 분석을 통해 볼 때, 태국 컨테이너항만의 경쟁력은 잠재력이 매우 높으로며 미래지향적임을 파악할 수 가 있었다.The main objective of this thesis is to explore and assess the competitive advantages of Thai container port (with a particular emphasis on Laem Chabang) in comparison with some other container ports in the region. The research concentrates on answering two significant questions: What is the condition of container port industry environment in Thailand in relation to the competitive advantages of Thai container port? What specific criteria are important to the potential competitive advantages of Thai container port in relation to the competitors? The research needed to find the answers to these questions has been done by both qualitative and quantitative analyses. The field study has been done through questionnaires and interviews, and customer responses have been analyzed to find the level of competitive advantage performance by Thai container port. The findings indicate that there is a negative environment surrounding the multi-dimensional Thai container port industry, but that the level of competitive advantages could be higher in the future.Declaration i Approval page ii Abstract iii Acknowledgements v Table of Contents vi List of Tables ix List of Figures xii List of Abbreviations xiii Organizational Chart of Thesis xv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 International Trade and Container Ports 1 1.2 Thailand’s Container Ports and International trade 3 1.3 Literature Survey and Objective of Thesis 5 1.4 Methodology and Structure of Thesis 11 CHAPTER TWO: THE ECONOMIC STRUCTURE AND PHYSICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THAILAND 2.1 Geographical Features of Thailand 13 2.2 Structure of Thailand’s Economy 16 2.3 Thailand’s International Trade 20 2.3.1 Exports 20 2.3.2 Imports 21 2.4 Structure of Container Industry in Thailand 24 2.5 Port Industry of Thailand 33 2.6 The Projection of Container Port Service Demand in Thailand 40 2.7 Summary 41 CHAPTER THREE: THEORETICAL AND ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO COMPETITIVE MAESUREMENT OF CONTAINER PORTS 3.1 Introduction 42 3.2 Competitive Advantage Strategy Formulation 43 3.3 The Competitive Advantages of Seaports 59 3.4 Conceptual Framework of Container Ports’ Competitive Advantage Measurement 70 3.4.1 The Process of Analysis Methodology 70 3.4.2. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) 71 3.4.3 The Analytic Hierarchy Process 77 3.5 The Field Survey Statement 86 3.6 Summary 87 CHAPTER FOUR: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PORT COMPETITIVENESS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA 4.1 The Environments of Container Ports in Thailand 88 4.2 Container Ports’ Environment Quantitative Analysis 94 4.3 The Container Ports’ Competitive Advantages Analysis 99 4.3.1 The Statistical Results of PCA Analysis 101 4.3.2 The Analysis of Potential Competitive Factors 105 4.4 Summary 121 CHAPTER FIVE: THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES OF THAILAND’S CONTAINER PORTS 5.1 General Views of Competitive Advantages of Thailand’s Container Ports 124 5.2 Thailand’s Container Port Environments 125 5.3 The Competitive Advantages’ Implications of Laem Chabang Container Port 129 5.4 Summary 135 CHAPTER SIX: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 6.1 Conclusion 136 6.2 Fecommendations 138 6.3 Further Research Suggestions 141 Bibliography 142 Questionnaire 15

The Impact of Port Technical Efficiency on Mediterranean Container Port Competitiveness

Port efficiency is a significant element that stimulates port competitiveness and enhances regional development. With increasing international maritime traffic and changing technology in the maritime transport sector, containerisation and enhanced logistic activities, infrastructure might be one of the main determining factors of port competition (Merk & Dang, 2012). Due to the increasing container traffic and the high quality of service required by the shipping lines, Mediterranean container ports are being compelled to enhance port efficiency to improve comparative advantages that will increase cargo traffic and satisfy the customers’ requirements. The Mediterranean Sea is a link point between Europe, Africa and Asia. This research aims to examine the impact of ports' technical efficiency on the improvement of Mediterranean container ports’ competitiveness. The research analyses the competitiveness and the relative efficiency of the top 22 container ports in the Mediterranean basin using a cross-section, panel data and window analysis application of data envelopment analysis (DEA) for the period between 1998 and 2012. The selected 15 year period enables the analysis of Mediterranean container port market dynamics and the benchmarking of the technical efficiency of the selected ports for three consecutive market cycles. This research can be classified as quantitative analytical research. The research follows the concept of the Industrial Organization (IO) and the Structuralism (Harvard school) methodology that analyses the market Structures, Conduct and Performance (SCP) of market players. The study conducts a simultaneous three-stage procedure: in the first stage, the competitiveness of the main container ports in the Mediterranean is analysed through the study of market structure and conduct. Market structure is assessed through measuring and analysing market concentration by using four different methods. These methods are: the K-Firm concentration ratio (K-CR), Hirshman-Herfindahl Index (HHI), the Gini coefficient (GC) and the generalized entropy index. Boston Consultant Group (BCG) matrix is also used to visualize the dynamics between ports in the defined market and assess the ports' competitive position. Market conduct is analysed using shift-share analysis (SSA) to get a thorough understanding of the issue of port traffic development. In the second stage, market performance is analysed through the use of the non-parametric models of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) which estimates the relative efficiency scores and ranking seaports according to their efficiency. Five DEA models are adopted for comparative purpose, the DEA- CCR, DEA-BCC, the Super-Efficiency (A&P, 1993), the sensitivity analysis and slack variable analysis models. In the third stage, to examine the impact of port efficiency on port competitiveness, a number of hypotheses are examined through the use of parametric correlation coefficients (Spearman’s rank order) and Simar and Wilson (2007) procedure to bootstrap the DEA scores with a truncated regression. Using this approach enables more reliable evidence compared to previous studies analysing the efficiency of seaports. The main findings demonstrate that the recent deconcentration tendency of the Mediterranean container port market is due to the increased number of market players which will in turn reshape the market structure, change the container port hierarchy and intensify the competition between ports as the market shifts from oligopoly to pure competition. The research findings also reveal the existence of inefficiency pertaining to the management of container ports in the region, since the total technical efficiency is found to be below 50% on average. This relatively limited technical efficiency of the Mediterranean container ports indicates the need for appropriate capital investments for ports’ infra/superstructure. In particular, those ports whose efficiency is not favoured by some factors such as size, geographical position and socio-economic conditions of the region in which they are located, must adopt suitable reform strategies to promptly improve their efficiency and competitive position. What differentiates this work from previous studies on the subject is that both cross-sectional and panel data have been collected and analysed at the level of individual container ports in the Mediterranean. The study is based on a wide range of methodologies, both parametric and non-parametric, that have ensured the validity of the empirical examination that has been undertaken and the results obtained. The research analysed the Mediterranean container ports competitiveness, benchmarked and ranked their efficiency by considering the Mediterranean in its totality, including South Europe, Middle East and North Africa. The study puts forward a way to assess container port efficiency based on simple, yet validated and meaningful physical efficiency measures

Competitiveness of China's Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port: resource-based and institutional perspectives

Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port is a crucial window connecting the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, an international passage to ASEAN. This study attempts to take the Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port as the object of study, explore its port competitiveness from the perspectives of resource theory and institutional environment. This study used two sets of data which are official data of thirteen ports in 2010-2016 years and the first hand data collected from the port operators by the self-reported questionnaire.First of all, based on governmental data of thirteen ports including Beibu Gulf Port, Shanghai Port, Yantian Port and etc.from year 2010 to year 2016, the port competitiveness of Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port is comprehensively analyzed by making empirical test about the influence of port resources and institutional environment on port competitiveness, combining with the questionnaire and other first-hand materials. Second, to further valide and explain the findings from official data, this study used self-reported questionnaires to collect first-hand data from the port operators. Analyses of the two sets of data reveal the following findings. 1) the overall competitiveness of Beibu Gulf port is weak; 2) Beibu Gulf port competitiveness and port throughput are positively correlated; 3) the port resources of Beibu Gulf have not all significantly positively affecting the port competitiveness; 4) the institutional environment of Beibu Gulf port has not been able to regulate the relationship between port resources and port competitiveness; 5) the institutional environment of Beibu Gulf port has a positive regulating effect on port competition and port throughput. This study proposes relevant policies and suggestions to improve Beibu Gulf port competitiveness.O Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port é um importante porto de entrada para a Rota da Seda Marítima do Século XXI e o Cinturão Económico da Rota da Seda, além de ser um portal internacional para a ASEAN. Este artigo tenta usar o Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port como objeto de pesquisa para explorar a competitividade portuária do porto de Guangxi Beibu Gulf na perspectiva da teoria dos recursos e do ambiente institucional. Este estudo usou dois conjuntos de dados. Dados em primeira mão de operadores portuários coletados por dados oficiais e questionários auto-relatados para 13 portos para 2010-2016. Primeiro, usando os dados oficiais de 13 portos em Beibu Gulf, Shanghai Port e Yantian Port de 2010 a 2016, foi construído um modelo de análise empírica do impacto dos recursos portuários e do ambiente de políticas portuárias na competitividade portuária. Com base no questionário e em outros dados de primeira mão, foi realizada uma análise abrangente da competitividade do porto de Guangxi Beibu Gulf. Em segundo lugar, a fim de aprofundar o estudo e explicar os resultados dos dados oficiais, este estudo utilizou um questionário auto-relatado para coletar dados em primeira mão dos operadores portuários. Os resultados da análise dos dois conjuntos de dados revelaram: 1) A competitividade global do Porto do Golfo de Beibu é fraca; 2) A competitividade do Beibu Gulf Port está positivamente correlacionada com o rendimento do porto; 3) As variáveis dos recursos portuários do Beibu Gulf não afetaram de forma significativa e positiva a competitividade portuária; 4) O ambiente institucional do porto de Beibu Gulf não ajustou significativamente positivamente a relação entre os recursos portuários e a competitividade portuária; 5) O ambiente institucional do Beibu Gulf Port tem um efeito de ajuste positivo na relação entre a concorrência portuária e o rendimento do porto. Com base nisso, este estudo propõe recomendações políticas relevantes para melhorar a competitividade do porto do Golfo de Beibu

Global seaport competitiveness: a resource management perspective

Seaport investment is lumpy, entails a long gestation period and has been referred to as a sunk cost. While seaport infrastructures have long been recognized to be a contributor of seaport performance, research on seaport competitiveness, a popular theme among mainstream maritime studies, has not directed sufficient efforts to understand the role of resource management in building seaport competitiveness. Instead, the dominant focus has been on seaport location, productivity and efficiency, price, connectivity, and organization. The manner in which global seaports manage their capital-intensive resources to develop contingent dynamic capacities and capabilities to confront the changing dynamics in the maritime market has not been systematically examined. Using a qualitative multiple case study approach, this study traces the developmental paths of three geo-politically distinctive global seaports - Dubai, Kaohsiung, and Rotterdam - to examine how they achieved competitive advantages since the advent of containerization. Drawing on the tenets of resource-based view, organization learning, dynamic capability and contingency theories, this research reviewed and interpreted the planned actions of the three seaports from the perspective of resource structuring, bundling and leveraging to develop constructs of strategic resource management. From the strategic actions taken by the three case seaports, the study identifies eight resource management constructs couched within four basic capability building blocks that were instrumental in helping them to achieve, and maintain, their global competitiveness: a capital-intensive regime of developing logistics support infrastructure, a parallel program of utilizing resources in a complementary manner, a dynamically agile capability of coupling, de-coupling, and recoupling to renew resource utilization efficiency in response to external changes (regional market dynamics, industry trends), and a capability of re-orienting the use of tangible assets as an exit strategy to develop intangible resources to adapt to unfolding events. The judicious blend of the eight resource management constructs underpins the developmental paths of the three case seaports as they navigated the environmental contingencies posed by the dynamics of the regional competition they faced against the backdrop of the size of their hinterland and foreland. Offering a fresh perspective on understanding how global seaports compete by developing contingent dynamic capabilities, this study presents six working propositions, opening an avenue for building a theory of global seaport competitiveness based on seaport resource management

A Study on the Development of Regional Marine Industry in China

The 21st century is a century belonging to the oceans, and the ocean plays a vital role in economic and social development. China is rich in marine resources, mainly distributed among eleven marine coastal provinces and cities. With the constant development of the ocean, the marine industries grow rapidly. In China, the “marine industry” refers to the production of developing, utilizing and protecting the ocean, which is also divided into a primary marine industry, a secondary marine industry, and a tertiary marine industry (China Marine Statistical Yearbook, 2017). To study the development of regional marine industries will drive the growth of the regional land economy. As there is a strong correlation between the development of the marine industry and the creation of shore-based organization, it is of great significance to analyze the current status of the regional marine industry in China, which has profound effect to theory and practice for exploring the future development of the regional marine industry. Against this background, this study firstly defines and analyzes the meaning of the marine industry and marine industrial competitiveness by combing the previous literature, and analyzing the overview of regional marine industry and the development of the three marine industries in China. Secondly, this study compares the development of regional marine industry from the perspective of competitiveness and establishes the evaluation index system which includes six first-class targets and sixteen second-class targets. Through MATLAB software, the entropy method is applied to evaluate the competitiveness of regional marine industries. Then, disparities found in regional marine industrial development are analyzed for their reasons. Thirdly, this study establishes the panel data model to analyze the factors influencing the development of regional marine industries in China. Regional gross ocean products (GROP) represent the dependent variable whilst the labor factor, capital factor, technological factor, and environmental factor represent the independent variables. This study also compares these factors, deemed as key influencing elements for the regional development of the three marine industries and the international competency. In general, this study gives the conclusions from two perspectives. On the one hand, there are development disparities in the regional marine industry in China which are seen by comparing the regional marine industrial competitiveness. It is shown that Guangdong, Shandong, and Shanghai have stronger competitive advantages. On the other hand, Guangxi, Hebei and Hainan lack competitive advantages. In addition, marine economic capacity, marine human resources, and marine technology occupy major shares in the evaluation of regional marine industrial competitiveness. Additionally, this study finds that labor, technology, capital, and environment have an impact on the development of the regional marine industries. Labor (that is the ocean-related employed), technology, research funds (one of the capital factors), and marine pollution treatments (one of the environmental factors) have a significant positive influence on development of regional marine industry. At the same time, these selected factors each affect the regional development of China’s three marine industries and international competency to a different extent. Combining the actual development of regional marine industries in China with the results of empirical analyses, this study puts forward suggestions to enhance the development of the regional marine industries in China.Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background of Research 1 1.2 Purposes of Research 2 1.3 Methodology 3 1.4 Outline of Research 4 Chapter 2 Basic Concepts and Literature Review 6 2.1 Basic Concepts 6 2.1.1 Marine industry 6 2.1.2 Industrial competitiveness 8 2.1.3 Industrial cluster 10 2.2 Literature Review 11 2.2.1 Literature review on the competitiveness of marine industry 11 2.2.2 Literature review on the development of marine industry 17 Chapter 3 The Development of Chinese Marine Industry 26 3.1 The Current Situation of Chinese Marine Industry System 26 3.2 The Development of Chinese Regional Marine Industries 28 3.2.1The division of Chinese marine regions 28 3.2.2 The marine industry distribution in regions 30 3.3 Structure of the Chinese Marine Industry 35 3.3.1 Chinese primary marine industry 35 3.3.2 Chinese secondary marine industry 36 3.3.3 Chinese tertiary marine industry 42 3.3.4 Obstacles of China’s three marine industries 44 Chapter 4 A Comparative Analysis on Regional Marine Industry in China 49 4.1 Factors Influencing the Marine Industrial Competitiveness 49 4.2 The Evaluation Index System 55 4.2.1 The purpose of the establishment of the index system 55 4.2.2 The principles of the establishment of index system 56 4.2.3 The establishment of the evaluation index system 59 4.3 Empirical Analysis 65 4.3.1 The selection of evaluation methods 65 4.3.2 Data source 69 4.3.3 Results 70 4.4 Summary 92 Chapter 5 Empirical Tests for the Development of Regional Marine Industries in China 95 5.1 The Selection of Variables and Data Source 96 5.1.1 The selection of variables 96 5.1.2 Data source 99 5.2 Empirical Tests 101 5.2.1 Regression estimation of regional marine industry (GROP) 101 5.2.2 Regression estimation of primary marine industry 108 5.2.3 Regression estimation of secondary marine industry 110 5.2.4 Regression estimation of tertiary marine industry 112 5.2.5 Regression estimation on international competency 115 5.3 Summary 116 Chapter 6 Conclusions 120 6.1 Research Findings 120 6.2 Implications 121 6.3 Further Study 123 References 124Docto

Regional competitive advantage and transportation planning : an extended ReS/SITE framework

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-241).by James W. Grube.S.M