Employment and Gross Value Added Generated by Port Infrastructures: A Bibliographical Review and Empirical Findings to Support Policy Maker Decisions

Ignacio De La Peña Zarzuelo

doi:10.7225/toms.v10.n01.012

Ignacio De La Peña Zarzuelo

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.7225/toms.v10.n01.012

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Abstract

A relevant factor to be considered by policy makers is the economic impact of their decisions on port investments. A structured system for assessing the economic impact of port infrastructures was developed in the mid-60s in the USA. From then, a great number of works in this field has been carried out considering different geographical environments and using different methodologies and approaches. In this work, a complete set of 27 Spanish ports are reviewed, first from a chronological point of view and later establishing a comparative analysis of different indicators of port productivity. Special focus is put on comparing the contribution of the ports in generating employment and creating Gross Value Added generated in the local and regional economy. Direct, indirect, and induced impacts in both the port industry and the industry dependent on the existence of the port and its activities are considered.

Highlights

1.1.BackgroundThe development of Economic Impact Assessments in Ports dated back to the 1960s in the USA (Anderson, 1964; Schenker, 1965; Schenker, 1967; Hille and Suelflow, 1969)
This study offers the results in terms of different traffic segments and an interesting comparison of the impact of the port in the regional economy compared with other ports of the SPS (Cádiz, Santander, Almería, and Cartagena)
With the set of reports analyzed, the following findings can be emphasized: The GVA per ton presents an average of 27 €/tn for the port sector and about 100 €/tn for the dependent economy, but with wide ranges of variation reaching the maximums of 71 €/tn and 576 €/tn, and the minimums of 3 €/tn and 5 €/tn (Table 3)

Summary

Introduction

1.1.BackgroundThe development of Economic Impact Assessments in Ports (hereafter, EIAP) dated back to the 1960s in the USA (Anderson, 1964; Schenker, 1965; Schenker, 1967; Hille and Suelflow, 1969). Waters (1977) criticized the use of these studies as well as pointed out some conceptual errors of his precursors and suggested certain improvements in the models carried out until His most relevant influence is to import the input-output methodology (hereafter, IOM) to the EIAP. Chang (1978) replied to the criticism of the latter author by defending the EIAP as a useful tool for port managers, while Little (1979) presented the most relevant work ever in this field. This is the “Port Economic Impact Kit” (hereafter, PEIK) developed for the U.S Maritime Administration (MARAD). This work provides a methodological standardization that has been followed by hundreds of subsequent reports

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