The importance of decoupling between freight transport and economic growth

In France and Europe, mobility and economic activity have developed with the same growth rate for several decades. This trend has to be prolonged with short – medium terms. The correlation observed between transport demand, in particular of goods, and economic growth throws light on the concepts of coupling / uncoupling which have been proposed in literature for a few years. In September 2001, the decoupling notion leaves the narrow world of the economists of transport where it had appeared a few years earlier, to be revealed with a widened public, with the favour of the publication of the European Commission’s white paper « European transport policy for 2010: time to decide ». Here, the coupling means that freight transport demand is correlated with economic growth. This perception permits to analyse underlying freight transport logics and to suggest different means for reducing negative externalities. The growth of freight transport demand, usually expressed in ton kilometres, is more easily explained by the rise of the consumption of physical distances than by transported tonnes. The spatial dimension is thus in the centre of our problems. In fact, freight transport demand is function of distances, themselves defined by the modes of interaction between manufacturing units. The approach of decoupling is based on the links between industrial and logistic organisations, location of activities and planning of freight transport systems. The hypothetical close link between industrial and spatial organisations and supply chain management has been confirmed by several scientific works (David Banister, Peter Nijkamp, Dominic Stead, Roger Vickerman). This validation rests on the analysis of industry location drivers. We can then explain the logistic organisations that govern their interactions. The aim of this research is to improve the sustainable mobility reflexion from current behaviour of freight mobility and their determinants. How is explained the trend and regular lengthening distances covered, the higher frequency of forwardings? How is explained the continuous and persistent widening of surfaces of provisioning and distribution? Several scientists defend the thesis which spatial spreading out of industrial units permits the reduction of production costs, scope economy and the improvement of wellbeing. Our work is focused on the variable “distance” like a component of the overall consumption of transport. So, we are interested in the capacity of industrial and distribution organisations to adopt another spatial behaviour. The aim is to reduce the consumption of physical distances and/or to improve the transfer of merchandises from road to other means of transport like rail, inland waterways or short sea shipping. This approach is deliberately registered in the field of economic geography, then complementary of the economic entry of the thesis of decoupling.&nbsp

Performance measure of a port-valley system: Data availability and their limits in freight transport and logistics

This article seeks to measure the performance of a complex geoeconomic system such as a port-valley. Public and private decision-makers involved in the development of a port-valley system need innovative methodological advances in freight transport data collection and production. This research fits into a development process of modelling frameworks in order to overcome different economic geography problems in freight transport and logistics. Within these frameworks, using descriptive statistics and time series analysis techniques, the purpose to be undertaken will allow for e¢ cient and robust indicators which will contribute to measure the performance of this type of geoeconomic system. The study of these spatial and temporal phenomena will be inspired by works in macroeconomics and evolutionary biology in order to provide a general framework that will simplify all stakeholders decision-making process. In the empirical studies, we will focus our attention on modelling (1) the dynamics of traffic registered by the seaports of a valley, (2) the synergy of the economic sectors present in a valley and (3) the main activities of stakeholders involving in specific transport and logistics sector of this valley. However, gaps in terms of availability of data in the fields of economic geography make it difficult to implement this kind of study and indirectly to measure the efficiency in stakeholders decision-making process. The construction of a database that will reflect current and historical situations of the port-valley activities stands out as a preliminary and inevitable step

Performance measure of a port-valley system: Data availability and their limits in freight transport and logistics

This article seeks to measure the performance of a complex geoeconomic system such as a port-valley. Public and private decision-makers involved in the development of a port-valley system need innovative methodological advances in freight transport data collection and production. This research fits into a development process of modelling frameworks in order to overcome different economic geography problems in freight transport and logistics. Within these frameworks, using descriptive statistics and time series analysis techniques, the purpose to be undertaken will allow for e¢ cient and robust indicators which will contribute to measure the performance of this type of geoeconomic system. The study of these spatial and temporal phenomena will be inspired by works in macroeconomics and evolutionary biology in order to provide a general framework that will simplify all stakeholders decision-making process. In the empirical studies, we will focus our attention on modelling (1) the dynamics of traffic registered by the seaports of a valley, (2) the synergy of the economic sectors present in a valley and (3) the main activities of stakeholders involving in specific transport and logistics sector of this valley. However, gaps in terms of availability of data in the fields of economic geography make it difficult to implement this kind of study and indirectly to measure the efficiency in stakeholders decision-making process. The construction of a database that will reflect current and historical situations of the port-valley activities stands out as a preliminary and inevitable step

Foreign Direct Investment and Productivity Spillover: A Firm-Level Analysis of MENA Region

In an increasingly globalized economy, foreign direct investment (FDI) has become a key factor influencing the productivity of companies. In this research, we analyzed the effects of foreign direct investment on company productivity within the context of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. We built our analysis on a panel of MENA manufacturing enterprises from a World Bank enterprise survey (WBES) conducted between 2013 and 2020. It was observed that vertical spillover exert a beneficial influence on MENA business output, whereas horizontal spillover negatively impact productivity. We evaluated certain academic ideas that ascribed this detrimental impact to local enterprises’ low technology absorption ability and skilled labor shortages. According to our estimates, the spillover effect gets more significant as the business approaches the efficiency curve and becomes positive when its adaptability exceeds a particular threshold

THE ROLE OF KAZAKHSTAN IN THE NEW GEOGRAPHY OF PRODUCTION AND TRADE BETWEEN THE ASIAN AND EUROPEAN MARKETS

International audienceFor over a decade, the global economic order has been undergoing major macro-economic and geographic changes. International relations evolve with the emergence of countries that face new economic superpowers like China. Federated around this new economic Sino-pole, Asian countries are increasingly attractive to major international investors in particular due to the reduced labor costs and a consumer market of several hundred million people. These events are accompanied by a new geography of the value chain. Indeed, a new transcontinental organization of production of goods generates new trade routes using mainly sea transport to link production areas to consumer markets

L’impact des échanges de biens de 1995 à 2014 sur l’organisation régionale des territoires insulaires caribéens

L’institut de recherche MOBIS – NEOMA BS étudie depuis deux ans les importations et les exportations des îles dans le monde, et particulièrement celles situées dans la zone caribéenne. Son étude a révélé l’impact du processus de la mondialisation et de la régionalisation sur les échanges caribéens. Elle montre que, entre 1995 et 2014, les échanges de biens au sein des Caraïbes ont considérablement changé, et ce quel que soit le type de produits. D’abord, ils ont changé au niveau des partenaires commerciaux. On est passé d’un marché « néocolonial » à un marché beaucoup plus régional et intégré, et parallèlement très ouvert sur le monde, à de rares exceptions près. Ensuite, leur valeur numéraire, donc indirectement leur volume, a profondément été impactée en triplant pendant la période considérée. Enfin, le type de marchandises a été, lui aussi, modifié. L’article présentera ces évolutions majeures pour les vingt-quatre territoires dont les données sont disponibles.The MOBIS-NEOMA BS research institute has studied for two years the imports and exports of worldwide islands, notably these in the Caribbean Sea. Its analysis has revealed the consequences of the globalisation and regionalisation processes on the Caribbean exchanges. We can prove the goods exchanges in the Caribbean Sea significantly changed from 1995 to 2014, and regardless of the commodities. First, they changed in terms of trade partners. We are passed from a "neo-colonial" market to a market more regional and integrated market, and more simultaneously opened to the world, unless rare exceptions. Second, their cash value, therefore indirectly their volume unit, was impacted up threefold for the specific data range. Our paper will show these significant evolutions for the twenty-four territories of which we have data

LES NOUVELLES ROUTES DE LA SOIE : Viabilité et enjeux du corridor ferroviaire eurasiatique

International audienceFaisant suite aux premiers trains-blocs de 2011 mis en fonction par la Deutsche Bahn, puis à l’annonce, par Xi Jinping en septembre 2013, du volet terrestre des nouvelles routes de la soie, l’arrivée à Madrid, en décembre 2014, d’un train de marchandises chinois en provenance de Chongqing sanctionnait avec succès un test d’approvisionnement du marché européen en produits chinois. Ce test avait alors vocation à établir des lignes régulières de fret entre les grands pôles industriels chinois en pleine expansion (dont Chongqing, Chengdu et Zhengzhou) et les principales plateformes logistiques d’Europe occidentale et centrale (dont Anvers, Hambourg, Duisbourg et Łódź)..