Government Policies and the Role of Institutions

Abstract

As mentioned in Chapter 4, contemporary developments in shipping forced ports to evolve by undertaking neoliberal management and governance reforms. In theory such alterations enabled ports to become more integrated into supply chains, while they were also provided an opportunity to transform themselves into maritime logistics hubs with a more hybrid community However, given the realistic situation within different countries, notably diversity in the institutional system, would a similar solution, when applied to different cases, lead to the same outcome? With the potential pitfalls of increasing governance complexity, was there an international ‘best practice’ that could fit the new circumstance, or did the choice of appropriate reform approach actually depend on the regional and local circumstances? Moreover, how would institutions affect the port’s evolution and its integration into global supply chains, as well as its relations with other components?