Distributional effects of the Panama Canal expansion

This paper uses a dynamic macro-micro framework to evaluate the potential distributional effects of the expansion of the Panama Canal. The results show that large macroeconomic effects are only likely during the operations phase (2014 and onward), and income gains are likely to be concentrated at the top of the income distribution. The additional foreign exchange inflows during the construction and operations phases result in the loss of competitiveness of non-Canal sectors (Dutch disease) and in higher domestic prices, which hurt the poorest consumers. In addition, the construction and operation activities increase demand for more educated non-farm formal workers. Although these changes encourage additional labor movement out of agriculture and from the informal to the formal sector, much of the impact is manifested in growing wage disparities and widening income inequality. Using the additional revenues of the Canal expansion in a targeted cash transfer program such as"Red de Oportunidades", the Government of Panama could offset the adverse distributional effects and eradicate extreme poverty.Economic Theory&Research,Labor Policies,Markets and Market Access,Labor Markets,Emerging Markets

Modeling Economic Impacts of the Inland Waterway Transportation System

The inland waterway transportation system of the United States (U.S.) handles 11.7 billion tons of freight annually and connects the heartland of the U.S. with the rest of the world by providing a fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly mode of transportation. This dissertation aims to create decision support tools for maritime stakeholders to measure the economic impacts of the inland waterway transportation systems under real world scenarios including disruptions, demand changes, port expansion decisions, and channel deepening investments. Monte Carlo simulation, system dynamics, discrete-event simulation, agent-based modeling, and multiregional input-output modeling techniques are utilized to analyze the complex relationships between inland waterway transportation system components and regional economic impact factors. The first research contribution illustrates that the expected duration of a disruption determines whether decision makers are better off waiting for the waterway system to reopen or switching to an alternative mode of transportation. Moreover, total disruption cost can be reduced by increasing estimation accuracy of disruption duration. The second research contribution shows that without future investment in inland waterway infrastructure, a sustainable system and associate economic impacts cannot be generated in the long-term. The third research contribution illustrates that investing in bottleneck system components results in higher economic impact than investing in non-bottleneck components. The developed models can be adapted to any inland waterway transportation system in the U.S. by utilizing data obtained by publically available sources to measure the economic impacts under various scenarios to inform capital investment decisions and support an economically sustainable inland waterway transportation system

Exploration and implementation of Seaport Manatee to relieve the supply chain congestion at California ports

For the global economy to thrive, a stable supply chain network is imperative to provide control of the seamless flow of goods. What is detrimental to supply chain performance due to inconsistency can be costly and consequently cause out-of-stock items, deficient use of container storage capacity and faulty logistics planning. This feasibility study examined leadership decisions in the face of supply chain turbulence. The analysis introduces the congestion free SeaPort Manatee in Palmetto, Florida. It establishes how this seaport could offer an alternative sea trade path to alleviate the supply chain strain since the U.S. will most likely continue to experience an increase in global trade instability. As the closest U.S. port to the Panama Canal, the study, in part, explores the significance of the canal as a primary conduit that allows Panamax and Neo-Panamax vessels expeditious transit from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast. Together with the new locks, the canal can handle ships with an overall length of 1200 feet, 160 feet wide (beam) and a draft of 40 feet. Consequently, not all vessels can travel through the Panama Canal regardless of its newly expanded locks (Rosenberg, 2019). The study also presents data to show how some cargo vessels sailing into Sea Port Manatee have a deep draft, which results in them being restricted by tidal ocean conditions. The draft is the minimum amount of water required to float the boat without it touching the bottom, allowing container vessels to successfully transport up to 15,000 (TEU) cargo containers through the canal. Catastrophic events such as natural disasters, a volatile political climate, and a health pandemic directly impact a company\u27s business strategy. This study addresses the challenge for leadership to make decisions to relieve the congestion at U.S. West Coast ports. By engaging in conversations with vessel shipping lines, shipping lines could create new sea trade routes in exchange for inefficient routes between Asia and the U.S. West Coast. This study introduced how sea-level rise will significantly influence port expansion at Sea Port Manatee and how vessels entering and exiting the port must do so under specific conditions

Deconstructing the eradication of new world screwworm in North America: retrospective analysis and climate warming effects.

Before its eradication from North America, the subtropical-tropical new world screwworm fly Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel) invaded southwestern temperate areas of the U.S.A., where it caused myiasis in wildlife and livestock. Outbreaks of the fly occurred during years when adult migrants were carried northward on North American monsoon winds from the northern areas of Mexico and south Texas. We deconstruct, retrospectively, the biology and the effect of weather on the eradication of the fly in North America. Screwworm was found to be an ideal candidate for eradication using the sterile insect technique (SIT) because females mate only once, whereas males are polygynous, and, although it has a high reproductive potential, field population growth rates are low in tropical areas. In northern areas, eradication was enhanced by cool-cold weather, whereas eradication in tropical Mexico and Central America is explained by the SIT. Despite low average efficacy of SIT releases (approximately 1.7%), the added pressure of massive SIT releases reduced intrinsically low fly populations, leading to mate-limited extinction. Non-autochthonous cases of myiasis occur in North America and, if the fly reestablishes, climate warming by 2045-2055 will expand the area of favourability and increase the frequency and severity of outbreaks

The polarization of global container flows by interoceanic canals: geographic coverage and network vulnerability

International Colloquium organized by the The Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences (Kaowarsom). Conference programme available at: http://www.kaowarsom.be/documents/programma_interoceanic_canals_03-2012.pdfInternational audienceIt is widely acknowledged that the two major interoceanic canals of Suez and Panama play a central role in global shipping flows. However, this role has rarely been measured with precision both in terms of the geographic coverage and network topological properties of canal-dependent flows. Based on vessel movement data for containerships, this research clarifies the weight and share of canal-dependent flows globally and at the level of world regions, routes, and ports. It also estimates and maps the effects of removing canal-dependent flows from the network by means of graph-theoretical methods. While main results converge in showing a decreasing importance of canal shipping in the context of growing south-south trade exchanges, certain areas remain more dependent than others, such as Asia, Europe, and North America. The research also underlines factors of port vulnerability across the globe in relation with the two canals

Fog dispersion

The concept of using the charged particle technique to disperse warm fog at airports is investigated and compared with other techniques. The charged particle technique shows potential for warm fog dispersal, but experimental verification of several significant parameters, such as particle mobility and charge density, is needed. Seeding and helicopter downwash techniques are also effective for warm fog disperals, but presently are not believed to be viable techniques for routine airport operations. Thermal systems are currently used at a few overseas airports; however, they are expensive and pose potential environmental problems

Assessment of Hydrodynamic and Water Quality Impacts for Channel Deepening in the Thimble Shoals, Norfolk Harbor, and Elizabeth River Channels : Final report on the “hydrodynamic modeling”

For over twenty years, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Virginia Port Authority (VPA), representing the Commonwealth Secretary of Transportation, have collaborated on projects key to port development that also preserve the environmental integrity of both Hampton Roads and the Elizabeth River. The USACE and the VPA are working to investigate channel deepening in this region to provide access to a new generation of cargo ships (e.g., Panamax-class). The main goal of this project is to investigate the feasibility for Norfolk Harbor channel deepening in the lower James and Elizabeth Rivers and assess the environmental impact of the shipping channels dredging in Atlantic Ocean Channel, Thimble Shoal Channel, Elizabeth River channel, and the Southern Branch. Specifically, we support the request of “Planning and Engineering Services for Norfolk Harbor” in three areas: (1) using high-resolution hydrodynamic modeling to evaluate the change of hydrodynamics resulting from Channel Deepening (2) assessment of water quality modeling using the Hydrodynamic Eutrophication Model (HEM3D) (3) conducting the statistical measure of impacts resulting from Channel Deepening. Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) team has applied a3D unstructured-grid hydrodynamic model (SCHISM, Zhang et al., 2016) in the study of impact of channel dredging on hydrodynamics in the project area. The model was adopted due to its flexible gridding systems used: hybrid triangular-quadrangular unstructured grids in the horizontal and flexible vertical coordinate system in the vertical (Zhang et al. 2015). High resolution (up to 15m) is used to faithfully resolve the channels and other important features such as tunnel islands, etc

Modelling Operative and Routine Learning Curves in Manoeuvres in Locks and in Transit in the Expanded Panama Canal

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG[Abstract] Piloting in the Panama Canal is exceptional as, due to its importance, the functions of the captains of vessels are taken over by pilots. Hence, prior to inauguration of the expanded canal, a limited number of pilots experienced on the existing canal were certified for the transit of Neopanamax vessels by means of planned and innovative individual learning. After this organisational training through operative training, with the implementation of the expanded canal in June 2016, the routine training started. Hence the learning curve in the performance of these manoeuvres will represent the growing skill acquired by both the pilots and the organisation. Given that the learning effect is measurable, this paper has the dual objective of determining two curve models: the organisation operative learning curve model and the routine learning curve model for pilots performing transit manoeuvres in the expanded Panama Canal waterways and the Cocolí and Agua Clara locks. Manoeuvre times in locks and transit in the whole of the canal were followed up continuously in the first 42 months of operation.The research of Salvador Naya and Javier Tarrío has been supported by MINECO grant MTM2017-82724-R, and by the Xunta de Galicia (Grupos de Referencia Competitiva ED431C-2020-14 and Centro de Investigación del Sistema universitario de Galicia ED431G 2019/01), all of them through the ERDF. This work has been funded in part by Project 1-FACINA of the International Maritime University of Panama (UMIP).Xunta de Galicia; ED431C-2020-14Xunta de Galicia; ED431G 2019/01Universidad Marítima Internacional de Panamá; Project 1-FACIN