Democratization of Coastal Zone Decision Making for Indigenous Australians: Insights from Stakeholder Analysis

Community participation has become something of an orthodoxy within natural resource management. In the absence of an explicit strategy for democratization and capacity-building the notion of community participation is potentially meaningless and its application likely to mask decisions made in the interests of elite groups. This article examines the shortcomings of participatory processes in coastal resource management and seeks to identify and overcome constraints to democratization and capacity-building for Indigenous Australians. Using two coastal catchments in Central Queensland as a case study, we explore relations of power among stakeholders using Stakeholder Analysis to provide a platform for more effective deliberative participation by this group of stakeholders. Discussion of the specific barriers to participation identified by Aboriginal stakeholders will demonstrate the need to adopt notions of capacity-building that focus not only on the attributes of the individual stakeholder that might facilitate their participation, but on the characteristics also of the decision-making environment.     

A qualitative analysis of reintroducing cabotage onto New Zealand's coasts

This paper provides a qualitative analysis of the proposal to ‘reintroduce cabotage’ onto New Zealand's coasts. New Zealand's coastal shipping trade was opened up to international competition in 1995. The analysis is principally based on a stakeholder analysis of the 83 submissions received by the Shipping Industry Review team, as part of the Government's study to identify ways to increase participation in New Zealand's shipping industry. The stakeholders included New Zealand and international shipping companies, unions, industry associations, freight service providers, manufacturers and producers. The main conclusion drawn from the stakeholder analysis was that to reintroduce cabotage onto New Zealand's coasts would appear to have an overall net negative impact on the New Zealand economy at this stage. However, the Shipping Industry Review team ‘was divided on the implementation of cabotage’, and a force-field analysis was undertaken subsequently based on the author's stakeholder impact analysis and the Review team's list of pros and cons of reintroducing cabotage. This force-field analysis also supported the author's earlier conclusion. However, the almost ‘complete absence of statistics’ relating to the commercial activities of the shipping industry in New Zealand places severe limits on the analysis.     

Vertical integration and its implications to port expansion

ABSTRACT

Over the years many shipping lines have established terminal operation companies, with some set up as independent firms. However, port authorities and local governments have not always welcomed external investment and control with open arms. The economic implications and each stakeholder’s best strategies remain unclear. This study develops an analytical model in order to study the effects of vertical integration, with a focus on shipping lines’ investment in ports’ capacity. Modelling results suggest that vertical integration between terminal operator and a shipping line leads to higher port capacity, port charge, market output and consumer surplus. It also reduces delay costs. All these results suggest that vertical integration can be an important source of synergy for the maritime industry. Although vertical integration increases the participating carrier’s output at the expenses of non-integrating rival shipping firms, our numerical analysis suggests that the overall social welfare is likely to increase. Preliminary empirical tests confirm that vertically integrated ports handle more traffic volumes and are associated with better infrastructure and equipment. Therefore, port authorities and government regulators should carefully review the market competition status as well as port expansion plans.     

Integrated ports clusters and competitive advantage in an extended resource pool for the Antwerp Seaport

In the context of increased scale of carriers and vessel sizes, stakeholder opposition to port expansion, and heavy regulation, ports prepare their strategic response. A port’s competitive strength strongly depends on its capability of developing or retaining competitive advantages. Ports consider options such as strategic partnerships, or any form of collaboration, which could help them to create more or alternative combinations of unique resources as sources of competitive advantage. Taking an extended resource base perspective, the competitive advantages of the Antwerp port cluster are analyzed, using both linear regression and factor analysis, for its integrated hinterland network area, on data of 59 port experts. The results of our analysis show that the port’s hinterland extension did not (yet) result in new sources of competitive advantages. This leads us to the reflection that we cannot assume integrated port clusters always lead to projected positive strategic outcomes.     

Productivity change of the Spanish Port System: impact of the economic crisis

ABSTRACT

The main goal of this study was to assess the impact of the economic crisis on the productivity growth of the Spanish Port System (SPS). The Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) was estimated for the 28 Port Authorities of the SPS, for a ‘non-crisis period’ (2005–2008) and a ‘crisis period’ (2008–2011). From a policy perspective, the MPI is a very useful approach for assessing the productivity change because it can be decomposed into the catching-up index and the frontier productivity index. The results showed that the economic crisis did not impact all of the Spanish Port Authorities equally. Some Port Authorities presented higher productivity growth during the crisis period than in the non-crisis period. Further analysis by the Mann–Whitney test revealed that Port Authority investments and productivity growth were statistically related. Information provided by this study may be very useful for stakeholders and decision-makers, in terms of long-term strategic planning and improving the competitiveness of the SPS. The findings illustrate that the economic crisis should not be seen as an international tragedy, but as an opportunity to adapt port traffics and installations to new needs and market demands.     

Influence of local government on port investment: implications of China’s decentralized port governance system

ABSTRACT

The pursuit of better performance by the local government can influence the investment decision-making related to port expansion. This paper compares the ceilings at which the port enterprise and the local government would stop making investments. To achieve this, the benefits to the port enterprise and the local government are measured over a given time period. An empirical study investigating how a port would respond if a rival port uses a type of capacity investment strategy is conducted for two major ports in Liaoning. The time at which the local government and the port enterprise would stop making investments and the final equilibrium are developed using the data from 2010. From the empirical results, it was found that investment in port capacity contributes greatly to the local government’s performance. Meanwhile, different investment ceilings are discovered for the port enterprise and the local government. This research is meaningful for discussing the institutional relationship between the local government and the port enterprise in China’s current decentralized port governance system.

This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled ‘Port expansion mechanism in the context of political achievement of local government: a special phenomenon in China’ presented at International Association of Maritime Economists 2012 Taipei Conference during 5th September –8th September.     

Book Reviews

The ever-changing environment in which ports operate has put strong pressure on the traditional role of public port authorities. Market developments have created the need for ports to be part of wider logistics networks and to provide value-added services. Powerful private players who are organised on a global scale, such as carriers, terminal operators and logistics service providers, struggle to gain control over port-oriented logistics networks whereas port authorities very often seem to remain local spectators with limited influence on these market-driven processes. Port authorities are on the other hand, the focal point of criticism from societal interests such as local government, NGOs and citizens for negative externalities related to port development and port operations even if these do not always fall within their direct responsibility. In 1990, Richard Goss questioned, albeit rather rhetorically, the need to have public sector port authorities. Since then scholars have demonstrated a true renaissance or renewed interest in the role of port authorities, recommending repositioning and development of new strategies. Parallel to the concept of the ‘renaissance man’, which is defined as a person who is well educated and excels in a wide variety of subjects or fields, a kind of ‘renaissance port authority’ is emerging from literature which may take on a variety of facilitating and even entrepreneurial tasks. The purpose of this article is to develop a conceptual framework for the various options at hand, based on an extensive literature review of port authority functions. The framework also identifies the principal governance-related factors that may in practice enable or prevent port authorities, particularly in Europe, from assuming the renaissance ambitions advocated by scholars. The hypotheses developed in this article form the basis of a wider empirical research agenda into reform of port governance in Europe and elsewhere in the world.     

Towards a meta-analysis and toolkit for port-related socio-economic impacts: a review of socio-economic impact studies conducted for seaports

Port authorities increasingly need to communicate with a variety of external stakeholders in order to maintain and strengthen the societal acceptance of seaport activities. The availability of socio-economic impact studies on port authority and regional development agency websites has often made this information accessible to the public at large. However, the differences in methodologies adopted, in terms of selecting, defining and measuring various types of socio-economic impacts, sometimes lead to misconceptions as well as misleading comparisons across ports within and between regions. In this paper, we suggest guidelines for the design and application of a potential best practice from an interregional perspective (UK, France and Belgium), based on research in the framework of a European Commission co-funded project, ‘IMPACTE’. The paper also aims to develop guidelines for comparing the socio-economic impacts of ports across regional and national borders and discusses the development of a European port economic impact measurement toolkit. We analyse a sample of 33 recent socio-economic impact assessment reports in terms of methodologies adopted and types of impacts measured. The review shows a great diversity among these studies, leading to important differences between the impacts of port activity communicated to stakeholders.     

Nearshore Restoration in Puget Sound: Understanding Stakeholder Values and Potential Coalitions

Restoration of nearshore ecosystems presents many challenges for stakeholder involvement. Using surveys and interviews we examined stakeholder values, preferences, and potential coalitions surrounding nearshore restoration in the Whidbey sub-basin of Puget Sound. Most stakeholders in our study believe that Puget Sound nearshore problems are severe and urgent, and that it is worth investing in restoration. They do not agree on the causes of nearshore degradation, yet support stronger regulatory enforcement and increased public ownership as possible solutions to nearshore problems. Five potential stakeholder coalitions were identified based on shared values. These values reflect a varied spectrum of support for public sector solutions to nearshore problems and were labeled: No Government Intervention, Property Rights, Private Land Stewardship, Protect Undeveloped Areas, and Large Scale Restoration. The potential coalitions identified confirm the Advocacy Coalition Framework hypothesis that coalition members who share values do not necessarily share stakeholder demographics or preferences. This study demonstrates one method for understanding local stakeholders, and will help managers direct project resources, planning, and management, through reliance on both stakeholder and scientific input. In addition, managers can use information about stakeholder values and potential coalitions to more effectively frame communication products and stakeholder involvement activities.     

The Use of Science in Collaborative Management of Marine Environments

Collaboration has become a common alternative to traditional top-down approaches to environmental management and conservation. One critique of collaborative processes is that science is not sufficiently linked to conservation actions. To better understand how science is used in collaborative decisions, we asked how the use of science is affected by the structure of collaborative processes, paying specific attention to the role of explanatory variables such as stakeholder engagement, how information is gathered, and how decisions are made. Case survey methods (a form of systematic review) were used to analyze 30 case studies of collaborative management of marine, estuarine, and coastal systems across the United States. We found that increased stakeholder participation (i.e., two-way flow of information between parties), face-to-face communication among stakeholders, increased contribution of information from academic stakeholders, careful consideration and selection of participants (e.g., stakeholder analysis), participants' ability to influence decisions, and structured methods of collecting and aggregating information were all positively associated with the use of science in collaborative processes. These findings suggest ways to improve the structure of collaborative processes to enhance the use of science for environmental management and conservation.     

Investigating Information Requirements for Evaluating Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas—Indonesian Case Studies

Identifying the information needs of managers and other stakeholders is an important first step in designing an evaluation of management effectiveness for marine protected areas (MPAs) that will be relevant to local circumstances and useful for improving management practices. Information requirements for evaluating effectiveness were investigated at two MPAs in Indonesia. Results show that, despite similar management objectives, information needs for evaluation differ between sites and those differences reflect the unique context within which management operates in each case. The scope of information needs at each site covers a broad range of issues including context, planning, resources, processes, outputs, and outcomes. Relevant components of a variety of different evaluation tools will need to be used to satisfy information needs at these sites. Evaluation tools that are based primarily on stated management objectives or the expressed views of a few key stakeholders are unlikely to be very useful for improving management in these cases.     

Eilat: Multiple conflicts in an inherently uncertain environment

Abstract

Ports are often at the center of conflicts regarding the use of coastal areas and their management. Yet, it is often impossible to forecast the future development patterns of a port due to its dependence on shifting international relations and markets. Such inherent uncertainty complicates the management of coastal areas affected by the port. This article looks at how such a case is being addressed in Eilat, Israel's Red Sea port.

The development of Eilat's port has been a function of the changing geopolitical situation in the Middle East. At the same time it is in the center of a number of local conflicts involving the management and planning of Israel's Red Sea coast. Evaluation of the two alternatives proposed to address these conflicts is hampered by the inherent uncertainty regarding the port's growth patterns. The use of robust evaluation techniques is suggested as one way to address inherent uncertainties.     

Small ports in Northern Ireland: A method of study

This paper discusses the strategies which might be adopted by port authorities, given that modern port technologies have considerably limited the scope for competition. It therefore analyses the several forms of competition relevant to ports, any or all of which may apply in any given instance.

It describes the 'minimalist strategy, which consists of recognizing that public sector bodies have many faults, may make many mistakes and that well-intentioned attempts to rectify faults in the private sector may make matters worse. Second, it describes the ‘pragmatic’ strategy, which involves establishing committees to examine problems and to recommend actions, if they can reach a consensus. Third, it describes the ‘public sector’ strategy, which involves the port authority taking over all port functions. Finally, it describes the ‘competitive’ strategy, which involves a careful reproduction of the circumstances of competition, even though there may be room for only one efficiently-sized operator at a time. Franchising, or short-term leasing on any of a variety of competitive bases, so as to produce serial competition is described. Each of these strategies is presented as having its own advantages and disadvantages, and each may be suitable to particular circumstances.     

Environmental sustainability in seaports: a framework for successful innovation

Environmental sustainability in the port industry is of growing concern for port authorities, policy makers, port users and local communities. Innovation can provide a solution to the main environmental issues, but often meets resistance. While certain types of technological or organisational innovation can be satisfactorily analysed using closed system theories, in the case of seaports and in particular in the area of environmental sustainability, more advanced conceptual frameworks have to be considered. These frameworks need to be able to account for the multiple stakeholder nature of the port industry and of the network and vertical interactions that environmental sustainability calls for. This article investigates successful innovations improving environmental sustainability of seaports. The proposed framework builds in part on research concepts developed in the InnoSuTra EU FP7 project. From a methodological perspective, this article develops a method for quantifying the degree of success of innovation with respect to a set of specific objectives. Several case studies are used to test the framework against real innovation examples, such as onshore power supply, or alternative fuels. In this article, we argue that only those innovations that fit dynamically port actors’ demands and the port institutional environment stand a chance to succeed.     

Gender Issues within the Population-Environment Nexus in Philippine Coastal Areas

Sixty percent of the Philippine's population resides in the coastal zone. Women and men in coastal communities depend chiefly on the sea for subsistence. Over fifty percent of the dietary protein requirements of coastal communities are derived from municipal fisheries and shallow coastal habitats (reef fishes, marine plants, and mangroves). Coastal populations are young and expanding at rates that exceed regional and national averages. Expanding human pressures and man-made disturbances (over harvesting, destructive fishing, siltation, etc.) that offset natural processes are destroying habitats and creating protein food security crises and increasing malnutrition. At the same time conflicts among users of coastal resources are escalating. Access constraints, gender inequities, and cultural barriers stymie options for women and men to plan their families and create alternative livelihoods. National and local government agencies are addressing food security concerns through vertical policies and programs (e.g., fisheries management, integrated coastal management). The IPOPCORM project uses a cross-sectoral approach and quasi-experimental evaluation design to test the hypothesis that food security will be achieved more quickly when coastal resources management (CRM) and reproductive health (RH) management are implemented together. The purpose of this article is to review the project's experience and highlight the trends observed in program monitoring and evaluation during 2001–2004, which suggest better impact on RH, CRM, and gender indicators in the sites where the synergistic approach is being applied.     

Attitudes toward Participation in Cooperative Coastal Management: Four European Case Studies

Findings are reported of the VALCOAST project that had as one of its research objectives to ascertain: (a) stakeholder willingness to participate and cooperate in coastal management (CM), given local and national CM practices; and (b) stakeholder assessment of the "accessibility" and "friendliness" of current CM processes. The project involved case studies and stakeholder interviews in Belgium, Greece, Spain, and the UK. Major findings include: (1) most stakeholders are willing to cooperate in three out of the four case areas, but not to the same extent; (2) the participating "officials" in the case studies are expecting the stakeholders to be less willing to cooperate than the latter indicate; (3) stakeholders in all case studies do not expect to be heard by those responsible for CM, find it difficult to learn about the relevant institutional arrangements, and consider the communication of the objectives and anticipated impacts of CM policies to be inadequate. It is concluded that the strong evidence of stakeholders' potential willingness to cooperate in local initiatives is very encouraging for a devolved, regional approach to European Union coastal management policies, provided that this potential is capitalized upon in such policy processes.     

Shipper's councils: role and responsibility—a western view

This paper first presents arguments for having public sector port authorities. They can deal, flexibly and permanently, with property rights within their own areas. They can plan and regulate port areas comprehensively. They can provide ‘public goods’. They can deal, in various ways, with externalities. They can promote efficiency, whether their own (if they operate as a comprehensive port) or that of the private sector (if they are largely landlords). For example, if their policy is to rely on the private sector to produce efficiency through competition then they can see to it that there actually is competition and not any kind of cartel or monopoly. Examples are cited where this last function has not been performed. The exception for single-user ports is noted.

Against them are the general disadvantages of public authorities (or bureaucracies)—though examples are cited where port authorities had very small staffs. The common instances of ‘market failure’ may thus be contrasted with those of ‘government failure’. Finally, a pragmatic approach is advocated, tailored to the needs and resources of the country in question. The increasing effect of the economies of scale in port technology, and its limitation on competition, is, however, noted and to be discussed in the next paper.     

Challenges in Collaborative Governance for Coastal Restoration: Lessons from the Caernarvon River Diversion in Louisiana

In an effort to restore deteriorating coastal wetlands in Breton Sound, Louisiana, a diversion of Mississippi River water into the estuarine ecosystem has been operated at Caernarvon, Louisiana, since 1991. The diversion was implemented after a relatively long collaborative planning process beginning in the 1950s. The Caernarvon Interagency Advisory Committee, an official panel of stakeholders, considers scientific aspects of the freshwater inflow and stakeholder inputs in developing an operational plan, which internalizes stakeholder conflicts, while accomplishing goals of restoring the coastal ecosystem. Even though fishery representatives are committee members, local oyster fishers filed lawsuits in federal and state courts from 1994 through 2005, claiming damages to their oyster beds. These lawsuits were initially successful in state courts but were reversed by the Louisiana Supreme Court. The federal suits were unsuccessful. Following these lawsuits, voters in Louisiana in 2000 amended the State Constitution to protect coastal restoration projects against lawsuits reflecting increase in overall statewide support. Increasing scientific knowledge has contributed significantly to diversion operation. For better collaborative governance, efforts to increase common understanding among stakeholders will be needed, and a process to compensate interests of stakeholders suffering from impacts of restoration projects at an earlier stage should be institutionalized.     

Exploring the conditions for inclusive port development: the case of Indonesia

Governments around the world are adopting inclusive growth agendas. The ambition to align economic growth ambitions with broader-based social benefits is increasingly embraced by corporations to limit the ‘negative externalities’ and enhance the ‘positive externalities’ of their operations. Therefore, micro-level corporate strategies and macro-level national ambitions meet at the meso-level of networks and clusters. This requires societal spheres to collaborate and search for alternative governance constellations. In this discourse, port development is only recently receiving attention. In March 2018, ports around the world signed the World Ports Sustainability Program declaration, which aims to contribute to the sustainable development goals (SDGs), whilst a number of national port (master) plans have started to include social along with environmental standards. Extant studies on partnering and stakeholder inclusion in port development are proliferating but are primarily aimed at environmental rather than social (inclusion) issues. This paper adopts an exploratory research design to consider conditions for inclusive port development. A novel taxonomy considers port development as a driver for inclusive growth, where partnerships are the missing link between micro-level business strategies and macro-level effects in the port region and economy at large. This paper shows the first findings and delineates areas for further research.     

Evaluating determinants of attractiveness and their cause-effect relationships for container ports in Taiwan: users’ perspectives

The attractiveness of ports is usually a pre-requisite and necessary condition for ports to achieve competitiveness, as well as the springboard to explore the competitive advantages of ports. To determine whether a port is competitive, it is necessary to explore whether it boasts certain factors that make the port attractive to users. The main purpose of this article is to apply the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique to evaluate key determinants of attractiveness and their cause/effect relationships for container ports in Taiwan. The empirical results showed that: (1) Top six determinates of attractiveness for container ports are ‘ample cargo sources,’ ‘favorable port charges,’ ‘dense ship network and routes,’ ‘low transshipment costs,’ ‘efficient wharf operations,’ and ‘adequate wharfs and back-line land,’ respectively. (2) Among the above six determinants of attractiveness, ‘ample cargo sources’ is the cause determinant. Three determinants of port attractiveness, ‘favorable port charges,’ ‘dense ship network and routes,’ ‘low transshipment costs,’ which are the effect determinants. They are affected by the determinants of attractiveness of ‘ample cargo sources’. In addition, this study discusses the above findings and expects to provide the study results to Taiwan’s port authorities for reference.