Maritime Economics Research Articles

TRACKING THE FUTURE OF THE OCEAN FROM PERSPECTIVE PRESENT AND PAST HISTORY

This article aims to discuss the future history of the ocean from a past and present perspective, focusing on how historical patterns and current data can be used to predict future challenges and opportunities that marine ecosystems and coastal communities may face. Key questions explored in this study include the impact of climate change on marine biodiversity, the threat of plastic pollution, potential geopolitical conflicts in strategic sea lanes, as well as implications for maritime economics and food security. In terms of conceptual framework studies, this paper uses continuity theory and future uncertainty theory used to analyze the relationship between past changes, current conditions, and future potential in maritime ecosystems. In terms of methodology, the study will use qualitative methods through the analysis of marine history literature and maritime science, as well as the use of simulation methods and predictive models to study future trends. This article also applies maritime climate change theory, maritime geopolitical theory, and maritime economic sustainability theory to support discussions and predict possible future scenarios. The results of this study show that the future history of the ocean depends not only on scientific data but also on the understanding of historical and social contexts, which can help shape a more comprehensive and sustainable ocean management strategy.

Fiscal Policy in Maritime Economics: Implications for Growth and Sustainability

This research explores the impact of fiscal policies on maritime economics, focusing on macroeconomic stability, sector-specific resilience, and sustainability initiatives within maritime industries. Through qualitative analysis and expert perspectives, the study examines how fiscal interventions influence economic growth, address regional disparities, and promote environmental stewardship in maritime sectors. Key findings highlight the effectiveness of fiscal tools in stabilizing economic fluctuations, fostering innovation, and enhancing industry competitiveness. Challenges such as regulatory complexities, uneven distribution of fiscal benefits, and the need for enhanced fiscal transparency are also discussed. The research underscores the importance of tailored fiscal strategies that support inclusive growth, sustainable development, and global competitiveness in maritime economies.

The state-of-play in maritime economics and logistics research (2017–2023)

The state-of-play in maritime economics and logistics research (2017–2023)

Market access and seaport efficiency: the case of container handling in Norway

Comprehensive studies on the impact of market access on port efficiency are scarce, and the problem that market access indicators are potentially endogenous lacks treatment in maritime economics. This paper offers both theoretical and empirical advances to fill these research gaps. First, it pioneers in the use of Stochastic semi-Nonparametric Envelopment of Z variables Data for measuring port efficiency, and further develops the methodology for panel data and proposes an instrumental variable extension for dealing with endogenous market access indicators. Second, it advances the empirical port literature by developing a unique panel dataset on Norwegian container ports encompassing a comprehensive set of foreland and hinterland connectivity measures. Our comprehensive assessment suggests that the role of market access in determining port efficiency is uncertain.

Shipper economic demand function for cargo port services: A note

An important relationship in cargo handling at cargo ports is the shipper economic demand function for cargo port services, which relates the demand for cargo port services to the prices charged by cargo ports and the cargo demand from shippers at other cargo ports. To our knowledge, such a function has heretofore not been rigorously derived in the maritime economics literature. This note derives a shipper economic demand function for cargo port services to be provided for shipper cargoes while in a cargo port. Using the demand function, it is shown how the price elasticity of demand for port services by users of port services can be derived.

The State-Of-Play in Maritime Economics and Logistics Research (2017-2023)

The State-Of-Play in Maritime Economics and Logistics Research (2017-2023)

Maritime Policy Design Framework with ESG Performance Approach: Case of Estonia

In policy-making, the design of a policy is considered to be one of the most significant steps. A well designed policy will be able to solve sectoral problems across stakeholders as well as support the competitive development of the entire economy. Enterprises of the maritime sector have been influenced by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) changes with the push coming from financiers, insurers, regulators, and customers. To meet the ESG challenges and utilize the benefits ahead, they need to be addressed in the new policy design processes. The specificities of a maritime sector as well as science-based policy-making framework are the fundamentals of successful maritime policy development. Estonia is located on the eastern border of the EU, and has always aimed to be a maritime state. National maritime policy has been adopted (2012–2020) and currently, the Estonian Transport and Mobility Master Plan incorporates maritime aspects. Actors of the maritime sector have remained dissatisfied and advocate the reinstatement and redevelopment of Estonian maritime policy. The aim of this study was to present a framework for the design of maritime policy that uses maritime economics, ESG performance goals, and policy design analyses as inputs. As a result, a maritime policy design framework is proposed.

PECULIARITIES OF CURRENT WORLD SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHES ON MARITIME ECONOMICS AND SPECIFICALLY SEABORNE TRADE

The article analyzes and systemizes current studies of leading world scientists on maritime economics and seaborne trade with the aim to reveal current trends and venues for future researches in this field. Special attention is paid to researches evaluating how the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic impacted shipping industry as a main global supplier of goods. All studies under review are conceptually grouped into two main branches. The first branch comprises papers focused on the world seaborne trade data dynamics, including official maritime reports. As opposed to Ukrainian and Russian maritime economics papers which predominantly describe and portray the statistical data available in official maritime reports issued by international organizations and shipping services providers, leading world scholars use this statistics as a baseline for individualized researches, mainly focused on investigation of correlation between various shipping indicators and prediction of same. The second branch comprises papers investigating trade of certain types of cargo, such as containers, crude oil, dry bulk. Several general peculiarities of both branches of researches are defined. Almost all of them attempt to provide an insight into the nature of a freight rate and to forecast the development of either general freight market or specific cargo related one. The utilized methodology is also identical. Depending on the aim of research and data availability, scholars employ various models of regression analysis, a standard tool of statistical modeling, which estimates the average relationship between two or more variables. No matter which freight market is under investigation, studies usually try to examine the connection of this market with others by evaluating the spillover effects between vessel types and vessel sizes. Distinguishing features of researches lie in the target stakeholders who could benefit from, either the industry in general or particular groups of market participants. In addition, nowcasting trade data is a real problem raised by the industry to modern science, which tries to tackle it by proposing innovative digitalized solutions.

Turkey's Interest in the Arctic Region: the Possible Effects of being a Party to the Svalbard Treaty

The Arctic Ocean's becoming open wider to international navigation for most of the time in parallel with global warming has attracted the attention of the world to this region. As the Covid-19 pandemic reveals the necessity to deliver products to the global market as quickly as possible, the possibility of intense use of the Arctic Ocean is increasing. This study aims to emphasize the increasing importance of the Arctic region from a maritime economics perspective and on the other hand to discuss the possible effects of being a party for Turkey to the Svalbard (originally Spitsbergen) Treaty. It is expected that the increase in global temperatures will result in important outcomes in the region especially regarding the new emerging navigational routes and sharing of the natural resources in the region. Analysis has been made on the impact of new security concerns on the sustainable maritime economy likely to arise in the Arctic region. As a result, the importance of mutual international efforts to maintain stability was emphasized and the importance of being a party to the Svalbard Treaty for Turkey was highlighted.

Hierarchical Flow Among Four Shipping Markets: An Integrated Approach for Capesize Shipping Markets

Although there are theoretical researches on the interactions between four shipping sub-markets, empirical studies examining four to cover are rare. Also, market interactions may differ in positive or negative environments. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to examine the hierarchical structure among the 4 sub-maritime markets by providing a methodological proposition. This study integrates the Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) method with the asymmetric causality analysis and examines the hierarchical structure between the four markets in terms of positive and negative shocks through the Capesize markets. The dataset used in the study covers the period between 07.01.2013 - 18.07.2019 and consists of 342 weekly observations. The results show that the hierarchical flow of positive and negative shocks differs in the Capesize market. In terms of positive shocks, the demolition market stands out as the starting point of the shocks, while in terms of negative shocks, freight and new building markets come to the fore. Our study reveals hierarchical structures for maritime markets by testing their relationships empirically and contributes to the maritime literature where the freight market is theoretically considered a pioneer. A new methodical perspective is thought to be presented to the maritime economics literature.

ЕКОНОМІКА МОРСЬКОГО ТРАНСПОРТУ ТА МОРСЬКА ТОРГІВЛЯ В СУЧАСНИХ ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯХ УЧЕНИХ ІЗ ПОСТРАДЯНСЬКИХ КРАЇН

The article discusses current studies of scientists from the post-Soviet states on maritime economics and seaborne trade. It is identified that although subject matter is raised by scientists from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Moldova, predominantly Ukrainian and Russian scholars are engaged in maritime economics researches, and their publications are systemized into three main groups in this article: global market of maritime transportation services (including freight market), functioning of shipping companies and maritime transport of Ukraine. It is ascertained that the general peculiarities of post-Soviet researches are their descriptive character and limited practical use in comparison to European and American ones whose current trend lies in more detailed and specified analysis of the world seaborne trade. Scientific interests of foreign scholars are focused on macroeconomic processes and global events and their influence on structural changes in the world seaborne trade, estimation of correlation between different macroeconomic fundamentals and indicators of trade, stock and freight markets. Another distinction between post-Soviet and foreign papers is an emphasis of the latter on the new methodology elaboration for the sake of more precise scientific modelling of the world seaborne trade volumes and nowcasting trade data, and also researches on freight rates determinants and both freight market cycles and fluctuation characteristics. The latest European and American studies also pay attention to various maritime spillover effects along with seaborne trade supply and demand disruptions caused by covid-19 pandemic outbreak, and also impact of associated with pandemic lockdown steps imposed by different countries, e.g. constructing a measure of lockdown exposure to trace its effect on seaborne trade. This is exactly what further perspective of maritime economics scientific activity should aim at. Potentially actual flag topic isn’t exhausted in the Ukrainian scholars’ papers, likewise the development of recommendations of how to implement in Ukraine the experience of Cyprus, Malta and other European countries with flags of convenience.

A Study on the Classification of Maritime Security Threat Topics

Maritime transportation security can be violated by piracy and terrorist attacks along with a wide variety of threats which may interrupt the free flow of goods through sea lanes of communication. Any disruption of this flow due to threats which may be encountered in international and territorial waters can adversely affect global economy. This paper aims to review the security challenges faced by maritime industry involving risks emanating through marine environment, threats to sustainable maritime economics, mutual international efforts to preserve stability, security in maritime areas of interest to maintain the flow of commodities throughout the World and conventional maritime security risks as well as the potential economic benefits of the Arctic Region occurring from increasingly diminishing of the sea ice. Considering recent developments in the Arctic and the new security concerns, emerging security strategies in the Arctic Region with a view to its effects on Maritime Economics is emphasized.

Stationarity of spot freight rates considering supply/demand effect

The mean-reverting nature of freight rates is one of the important subjects in maritime economics. The classic understanding of maritime economics (and that of the shipping industry) suggests that freight rate processes are mean-reverting and approach the level decided by the demand/supply ratio. However, statistical tests on freight rate processes often reveal these processes to be non-stationary, which means the processes would not have a mean-reverting nature. In this study, we investigated the mean-reverting nature of Panamax freight rates (Baltic Panamax 4 T/C Average) for two “means”: the actual freight rate process itself, and the deviation process of actual freight rates from estimated ones based on the demand/supply ratio. The AR (1) model can be applied to both processes, and their autoregressive coefficient φ was between 0 and 1. In the actual freight process, φ was close to 1, and a unit root test failed to reject that the process is non-stationary. By contrast, in the deviation process, φ was sufficiently smaller than 1, and a unit root test rejected that the process is non-stationary. The result can resolve the contradiction between two views on mean-reverting nature; if we focus on the actual freight rate process itself and do not consider demand/supply, the process is non-stationary and does not have a mean-reverting nature. If we focus on the deviation process of the actual freight rates from the level decided by the demand/supply ratio, the process is stationary and tends to approach zero.

Book Review: African Seaports and Maritime Economics in Historical Perspective by Ayodeji Olukoju and Daniel Castillo Hidalgo

Book Review: <i>African Seaports and Maritime Economics in Historical Perspective</i> by Ayodeji Olukoju and Daniel Castillo Hidalgo

Estimating international trade status of countries from global liner shipping networks.

Maritime shipping is a backbone of international trade and, thus, the world economy. Cargo-loaded vessels travel from one country's port to another via an underlying port-to-port transport network, contributing to international trade values of countries en route. We hypothesize that ports that involve trans-shipment activities serve as a third-party broker to mediate trade between two foreign countries and contribute to the corresponding country's status in international trade. We test this hypothesis using a port-level dataset of global liner shipping services. We propose two indices that quantify the importance of countries in the global liner shipping network and show that they explain a large amount of variation in individual countries' international trade values and related measures. These results support a long-standing view in maritime economics, which has yet to be directly tested, that countries that are strongly integrated into the global maritime transportation network have enhanced access to global markets and trade opportunities.

Deep adaptation to climate change in the maritime transport sector – a new paradigm for maritime economics?

ABSTRACT In recent years a significant body of work has been established on climate change adaptation by ports. Like climate change mitigation, work towards adaptation has stalled on the same collective action problem, whereby public and private sector actors avoid commitment to necessary investments. Recently the concept of ‘deep adaptation’ has appeared, which suggests that, rather than climate change bringing simply incremental challenges that can be adapted to in a piecemeal fashion, in fact, we should expect ‘disruptive and uncontrollable levels of climate change, bringing starvation, destruction, migration, disease and war’. However, current port and shipping forecasts continue to predict uninterrupted growth with only minor incremental policy changes already known to be insufficient for mitigation and adaptation. Thus, this paper argues that actors in the maritime transport sector need to consider greater threats than those currently identified and also prepare for a more advanced adaptation timetable.

A comprehensive model for a sustainable maritimization: 3-Layer Holistic Maritimization Model

ABSTRACT Up to day, there is no consensus about the semantic explanations of the conceptions of maritime theory. In this study, we aimed to analyze the development process of sea related concepts, notions, and models; and to identify the maritime power elements as inputs and results as outputs by evaluating the evolving nature of the seas. We depicted the results of the study by a comparison chart and suggested a new input-output model namely “Three-layer Holistic Maritimization Model“. In this model, we suggested a new notion called as “Maritimization“ in the sense of a sustainable process to be planned and managed holistically with all layers. Maritimization process has key features such as maritime economics, maritime vision, sea power, maritime education and maritime culture. These elements can be accepted as parts of a puzzle. If one of the parts is ignored the system cannot work properly. In conclusion in the progress of decision process this model may offer an opportunity to understand the critical importance of maritimization process which may lead countries to some outputs such as wealth of nations, security of country and, innovational and libertarian thinking ability.

The desulphurisation of shipping: Past, present and the future under a global cap

As from January 2020, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is implementing a global 0.5% limit on the sulphur content of fuel, commonly known as the global sulphur cap. This limit is the latest policy in the efforts to reduce sulphur emissions from shipping, following the designation of emission control areas (ECAs) and other regional regulations. In this paper, a literature review is conducted of academic studies that have dealt with issues relating to the reduction of maritime sulphur emissions. Various recurring research themes are identified, spanning the areas of operations research, maritime economics and transport policy. The effects and implications of available compliance options are then analyzed from the perspectives of ship operators, shippers and consumers. Using lessons learned from the enforcement of ECA regulations, this is followed by an appraisal of various potential issues related to the enforcement of these new global regulations. It is found that a homogeneous enforcement regime is required to ensure a level playing field amongst ship operators and that the global sulphur cap may lead to serious market distortion, due to the potential short term rise of fuel prices. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for future research on sulphur emissions from shipping in the aftermath of the global cap and, looking forward, to its relationship to the IMO strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) shipping emissions.

Development of maritime management and maritime economics

Amac- Denizcilik Dunya Ekonomisinin en onemli unsurlarindan birisidir. Denizcilik tedarik zincirinin ham maddenin temin edilmesinden, uretilen mallarin tuketiciye ulastirilmasina kadar olan her safhasinda yer alir. Denzicilik ekonominin oldukca kendine ozgu bir faaliyet alani olup, Dunya ticareti icerisinde uluslararasi bir karakter gosterir. Yontem- Deniz Ticareti ekonomi, is dunyasi, siyaset, hukuk, muhendislik, lojistik faaliyetlerin teknolojik, sosyal ve kulturel unsurlarini da kapsayan butunlesik bir yapiya sahiptir. Denizcilik, Dunya bazinda degerlendirilmesi gereken, hem ulusal hem de uluslararasi duzenleme ve uygulamalari kapsayan bir konsepte sahiptir. Bulgular- Teknolojik gelismelerin bir sonucu olarak denizcilik de suratli bir degisim arz etmektedir. Denizcilik meslegi her gun suratle gelismekte olan teknolojiyi takip edebilmek amaciyla, daha teknik bir ozellik gostermekte ve oldukca yuksek yetenekli ve maharetli yonetim metotlari ve uygulanmasini saglayacak tekniklerin kullanilmasinin gerektirmektedir. Sonuc- Bu calismada dijital cagin etkileri isiginda deniz isletmeciligi ve denizcilik ekonomisinin gelecekte alacagi sekil degerlendirilmeye calisilmaktadir.

Strategies for Maritime Development: A case in Vietnam

Strategic assessors of the 21st century are "The Century of the Ocean," because, along with current economic and demographic growth, natural resources, especially non-renewable resources on land, will be exhausted after several decades. The world economy is increasingly dependent on the sea and the ocean. About 70% of the world's industrial potential is in the 500km wide area of ​​the coast. The mineral, biological and marine resources of the oceans and oceans have an important implication for the world economy. Marine ecosystems are the most important resource with hundreds of thousands of animals, plants, and microorganisms. Sea is a diversified and abundant source of seafood, chemicals, salt, oil and gas, clean energy from the sea and oceans, wind, seawater, ocean currents, and the tide is being exploited for transportation, energy and countless other human benefits. The sea and the continental shelf are waterways that can develop tourism, sightseeing and recreation activities. The role of marine economics, including maritime economics, has become increasingly important and has been identified as a key sector for investment. This paper analyzes the advantages, limitations, and causes in maritime economic development, and draws on experiences to develop the maritime economy.