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The quality and availability of labour is important for the performance of ports. Insights from cluster theories are relevant for analysing training and education in ports, as ports can be regarded as clusters. In general, labour in clusters is relatively mobile, education services in clusters are relatively good and employees have a high willingness to invest in specific skills. However, skilled and talented labour still may be scarce, especially in regions with tight labour markets. Thus, in many clusters, including port clusters, firms and governments actively aim to improve the quality of labour.This paper presents an analysis of these efforts of firms and governments to improve the quality of the labour force in three seaport clusters. In this paper the concept of a 'training and education regime' is presented as an approach to analyse efforts of firms and governments to improve the quality and availability of labour. Important results of three case studies include first, the observation that the quality of training and education regime differs substantially between clusters. Second, the presence of a regime manager in Rotterdam 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 also improves an education regime. IntroductionThe quality and availability of labour is essential for the economic performance of clusters. Marshall (1920) already pointed out the role of labour in clusters, and Krugman (1991) argues that the benefits of a large and qualified labour pool promote spatial clustering of related economic activities. In clusters of a substantial size (in terms of jobs) the quality and availability of specialised labour in generally relatively good, for three of reasons. First, employees with skills that are valuable in the cluster will migrate to the cluster, to enhance their employment opportunities and career development. Second, it is attractive for workers in a cluster to invest in specialised skills, because these lead to improved careers. In clusters, specialised skills do not limit employability as many firms need such specialised skills. Third, due to the substantial demand for specialised training and education, training and education services in the cluster are relatively well developed. This attracts new employees to the cluster

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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.