Economic Impact of Port Activity: A Disaggregate Analysis - The Case of Antwerp

Abstract

The economic impact of the port sector is usually measured at an aggregate level by indicators such as value added, employment and investment. This paper tries to define the economic relevance for the regional as well as for the national economy at a disaggregate level. It attempts to identify, quantify and locate the mutual relationships between the various port players themselves and between them and other Belgian industries. Due to a lack of information foreign trade is only tackled very briefly but the method outlined in this paper can be used to measure the national effects of changes in port activity at a detailed level.A sector analysis is made by compiling a regional 1 input-output table, resorting to microeconomic data: a bottom-up approach. The main customers and suppliers of the port's key players or stakeholders are identified. A geographical analysis can also be carried out by using data at a disaggregate level. Each customer or supplier can be located by means of their postcode. In so doing, the economic impact of the port is quantified, both functionally and geographically.In the case of the port of Antwerp, the results show important links between freight forwarders and agents. The geographical analysis suggests the existence of major agglomerating effects in and around the port of Antwerp, referred to as a major transhipment location point.

An input-output-based methodology to estimate the economic role of a port: The case of the port system of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Italy

“…These expenditures are then applied to an I-O model of the Irish economy to establish the direct, indirect and induced expenditures, as well as the employment effects of this spending. Coppens et al (2007) make an interesting attempt to estimate the economic relevance for a region or for the national economy at a disaggregate level by identifying, quantifying and locating the mutual relationships between the various port players themselves and between them and other Belgian industries. They perform a sectoral analysis by compiling a regional I-O table using a bottom-up approach and identifying the main customers and suppliers of the port 0 s key players or stakeholders.…”

“…The geographical analysis suggests the existence of major agglomerating effects in and around the port of Antwerp, referred to as a major transhipment location point. Coppens et al (2007) is the primary source of inspiration for the work presented in this article.…”

“…The I-O table provides the basis for the estimation of a bi-regional I-O model. This research project is similar to the one performed for the port of Antwerp (Coppens et al, 2007).…”

“…3 They group the methodologies used to assess port impact differently. They propose the following classification: direct surveys based on interviews and questionnaires or microeconomic data on firms (Coppens et al, 2007); I-O models constructed in order to obtain intersectoral multipliers (Warf and Cox, 1989;Castro and Coto-Millan, 1998; CENSIS -Federazione del mare, 1998); and models based on productive specialization that use a mix of tools typical of applied economics, such as comparison with a control region (Rietveld, 1994) or analysis of productive specialization (Musso et al, 2000).…”

Ports and Regional Development

“…Rietveld, 1994;Censis Foundation and Federazione del Mare, 1998;Coppens et al, 2007). Most of the papers apply the input-output approach in order to classify the different kinds of economic impacts that ports may have, namely direct, indirect, induced and catalytic.…”