Leader Firms in the Dutch Maritime Cluster

The cluster-concept is often-used to analyse a country's key industries. The maritime industry is one of the most well-defined clusters in the Netherlands. Although the competitiveness of a cluster depends on the interaction in a cluster, research on cluster dynamics is limited. This paper discusses the presence and impact of 'leader-firms' in the Dutch Maritime Cluster. Leader firms are firms with the ability and incentive to make investments with benefits for other companies in the cluster. Benefits are created in three ways; encouraging innovation, enabling internationalisation and enhancing labour pool quality. The structure of the paper is as follows. First, we briefly discuss the Dutch maritime cluster. Second, we provide a theoretic framework to analyse leader firm behaviour in clusters. Third, we identify the leader firms in the Dutch maritime cluster and analyse their behaviour. In this section the results of surveys among 18 leader firms and the results of 25 case studies of maritime leader firms in the Netherlands are presented. We finalise the paper with conclusions and implications for government policy.

ANALYSIS OF THE BENEFITS OF INTRA-PORT COMPETITION

Intra-port competition is widely regarded as beneficial, for the competitiveness of ports, for local and national economies and for consumers and exporting industries. The aim of the paper is to analyse the benefits resulting from the presence of intra-port competition. Even though this issue has been addressed before, a thorough and complete overview of the effects of intra-port competition, enabling conditions for intra-port competition and policies in case of lacking intra-port competition are absent. The paper presents first a short overview of previous studies dealing with intra-port competition. Second, it discusses the two main arguments underlying the benefits of intra-port competition. In this context, attention is given to the relation between intra-port and inter-port competition. Third, the paper examines the conditions under which these arguments are valid and intra-port competition can be introduced. Possible policy responses to limited or absent intra-port competition are discussed in this section as well. Fourth, the need to introduce effects of intra-port competition in port modelling is briefly. Finally, the paper presents empirical evidence of the effects of intra-port competition.ports, intra-port competition, regulation, port policies

IMPROVING TRAINING AND EDUCATION IN CLUSTERS - LESSONS FROM THREE PORT CLUSTERS Improving Training and Education in Clusters - Lessons from Three Port Clusters

The quality and availability of labour is essential for the economic performance of clusters. The availability of labour in clusters is superior compared to locations outside clusters, because labour is more mobile in clusters, education services in clusters are better and employees in clusters have a higher willingness to invest in specific skills. These effects arise 'spontaneously', as a result of 'market forces'. Apart, from these effects, in some clusters, firms and governments also actively aim to improve the quality of the labour pool in the cluster. Clusters differ in the extent to which relevant stakeholders manage to invest in the quality of the labour pool. Thus, superior 'organising capacity' is a potential source of competitive advantage of a cluster vis-à-vis other clusters. This paper presents an analysis of these efforts of firms and governments to improve the quality of the labour force in three seaport clusters. The concept of a 'training and education regime' is used to analyse efforts of firms and governments to improve the labour pool. The results of three case studies of port clusters lead to a number of conclusions. First, the assumption that the quality of training and education regime differs substantially per cluster is validated. Second, the presence of a 'regime manager' adds to the quality of Rotterdam's training and education regime. Such an organisation may be effective across countries and clusters. Finally, the presence of leader firms, willing to invest in training and education improves an education regime

Port competition and selection in contestable hinterlands; the case of Austria

This paper deals with port competition and port selection for cargo to/from Austria. Austria is located centrally in Europe and seaports in at least five countries are used for imports and exports. Changes of market shares over time of different ports serving Austria are analysed. Switching of cargo between ports does take place, but friction prevents instantaneous switching. Consequently, it took a decade for the new potential of inland shipping to Austria, resulting from the opening of the Rhine-Main-Donau canal, was fully realised. A survey was held to analyse port choice decisions of two types of decision makers: shippers and forwarders. These results show shippers and forwarders have similar views on port selection, but shippers have a less price-elastic demand

β-Cell failure in type 2 diabetes: a case of asking too much of too few?

The islet in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is characterized by a deficit in β-cells, increased β-cell apoptosis, and extracellular amyloid deposits derived from islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP). In the absence of longitudinal studies, it is unknown if the low β-cell mass in T2DM precedes diabetes onset (is a risk factor for diabetes) or develops as a consequence of the disease process. Although insulin resistance is a risk factor for T2DM, most individuals who are insulin resistant do not develop diabetes. By inference, an increased β-cell workload results in T2DM in some but not all individuals. We propose that the extent of the β-cell mass that develops during childhood may underlie subsequent successful or failed adaptation to insulin resistance in later life. We propose that a low innate β-cell mass in the face of subsequent insulin resistance may expose β-cells to a burden of insulin and IAPP biosynthetic demand that exceeds the cellular capacity for protein folding and trafficking. If this threshold is crossed, intracellular toxic IAPP membrane permeant oligomers (cylindrins) may form, compromising β-cell function and inducing β-cell apoptosis

Leader Firms in the Dutch Maritime Cluster

The cluster-concept is often-used to analyse a country's key industries. The maritime industry is one of the most well-defined clusters in the Netherlands. Although the competitiveness of a cluster depends on the interaction in a cluster, research on cluster dynamics is limited. This paper discusses the presence and impact of 'leader-firms' in the Dutch Maritime Cluster. Leader firms are firms with the ability and incentive to make investments with benefits for other companies in the cluster. Benefits are created in three ways; encouraging innovation, enabling internationalisation and enhancing labour pool quality. The structure of the paper is as follows. First, we briefly discuss the Dutch maritime cluster. Second, we provide a theoretic framework to analyse leader firm behaviour in clusters. Third, we identify the leader firms in the Dutch maritime cluster and analyse their behaviour. In this section the results of surveys among 18 leader firms and the results of 25 case studies of maritime leader firms in the Netherlands are presented. We finalise the paper with conclusions and implications for government policy

Hinterland Access Regimes in Seaports

Seaports serve hinterlands. Various inland modes such as road, rail, inland waterways and pipeline are used to access the hinterland. The quality of the access to and from the hinterland differs between seaports and affects their competitiveness. The quality of the hinterland access depends among others on the behaviour of a large variety of actors, such as shipping lines, terminal operators, forwarders, the port authority and the national/regional government. Therefore, effective hinterland access is at least partially an organisational challenge. Together these actors create a ‘hinterland access regime’. The analysis of this regime is central in this paper. First, the relevance of hinterland access for seaports is briefly discussed. Second, the term ‘hinterland access regime’ is defined and the theoretical framework presented in De Langen (2004) is used to analyse the quality of the hinterland access regime. Third, survey results on the quality of the hinterland access regime in three seaport clusters, Rotterdam, Durban and the Lower Mississippi Port Cluster (LMPC) are discussed. This analysis shows major differences between hinterland access regimes. Fourth, opportunities to improve the hinterland access regime in these three ports are discussed