Measuring the scope of inter-firm agreements in the container shipping industry: an empirical assessment

Parola, Francesco; Caschili, Simone; Medda, Francesca; Ferrari, Claudio

doi:10.1504/ijstl.2014.064571

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Scholars too (among others Corruble, 2021 ; Fedi, 2021 ; Brooks et al, 2019 ) have pointed to the unbalanced relationships between carriers, transport users and port service providers. We, also, could conclude that strategic alliances have led to the same negative outcomes of conferences, that were supposed to ‘stabilize the supply chain and assure steady services in several maritime routes’ (Parola et al, 2014 ). Obviously, states and related competition authorities bear responsibility for this situation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…A close commercial and technical collaboration between container shipping companies has taken place in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, benefiting from exemptions from competition law principles (e.g., Lavissière et al, 2021 ; ITF, 2018 ; OECD, 2015 , 2002 ). Indeed, shipowners have been legally entitled to fix prices through different multilateral or bilateral instruments such as conferences and rate discussion agreements, with the aim of preventing price wars and adjusting transport capacities (e.g., Parola et al, 2014 ). This singularity is expressly or tacitly recognized in numerous legislations all around the world, including countries where stringent antitrust rules are in force, such as the U.S. or the European Union (EU).…”

Section: Literature Review On the Impacts Of Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

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COVID-19 as a catalyst of a new container port hierarchy in Mediterranean Sea and Northern Range

et al. 2022

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COVID-19 has dramatically impacted the organization of value chains and the pattern of international trade. The manufacturing sector has had to act resiliently, and the maritime sector was no exception. Container shipping lines have adapted their routes, services and fleet deployment with direct effects on many port activities. Our analysis focuses exclusively on container vessels by considering number of calls and calculating total containership capacity deployed within 45 Western Mediterranean and Northern European ports throughout 2018, 2019 and 2020. 2018 is considered as a ‘business as usual’ year, without exceptional events. 2019 is the start of the outbreak and 2020 is the year most impacted by the economic consequences of the pandemic. As we cover at least one port in each country, we considered ports that handled more than one million TEUs per year and if the country did not have such a port, we considered the largest one. The aim of our analysis is dual. First, we attempt to point out the importance of certain ports as major hubs and the downgrading of others to regional hubs, gateways or feeder ports in the Western Mediterranean and Northern Europe. Second, our objective was to assess the way shipping alliances have impacted the ranking of these ports during COVID-19. As a result, this exceptional crisis has not been a catalyst of a new port hierarchy while it has revealed contrasting situations with ‘poor’ and ‘good’ crisis resilience for ports meaning that some were downgraded, and others maintained their ranking. Moreover, COVID-19 has exacerbated the maritime alliances’ shortcomings, their capacity to unilaterally impose their decisions through their Cooperative Working Agreements, regardless of the consequences both for transport users and ports. One of the key lessons of the COVID-19 crisis is that the time for change for maritime alliances has come.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Literature Review On the Impacts Of Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 as a catalyst of a new container port hierarchy in Mediterranean Sea and Northern Range

et al. 2022

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“…Supporting Information Appendix A provides a simple illustration of how multiple operational benefits can emerge when options are thoughtfully deliberated upon. Motivation to pursue these objectives is natural to most carriers, though the implied interdependence among carriers sharing a vessel can also advance accountability and deliberation towards their accomplishment (Parola et al., 2014). The result is that carrier–vessel sharing can yield a greater chance of maximal capacity use, and a greater likelihood of simpler, more cost‐effective ocean routes.…”

Section: Theory and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vessel sharing and its impact on maritime operations and carbon emissions

Park

Blanco

Bendoly

2022

Production and Operations Management

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The shipping industry touches approximately 90% of all international trade, producing roughly one billion tons of greenhouse gases each year. Changes in the operations and coordination of global‐shipping vessels can have a substantial impact on vessel's carbon emissions, but these efforts need to fulfill the service expectation of individual firms receiving consignments. We examine the associated gains (or losses) in operational efficiencies and environmental benefits (if there are any) from vessel sharing. We do so by analyzing a dataset that merges multiple years of U.S. port records and maritime emissions data. Using simultaneous regression equation models, our results indicate that the maritime emissions (attributable to receiving firms) drop by 5%, on average, for each additional carrier sharing a vessel. We confirm several operational efficiencies emerging from vessel sharing, such as increased average utilization and reductions in “route redundancy.” These operational changes mediate the total effect of vessel sharing on emissions. However, we do find that vessel sharing is associated with a slight increase in lead time, measured as the number of days it took to deliver the goods. Although our empirical setting is in the global shipping industry, asset sharing is a mechanism that can be adopted by any industry. Our findings show the importance of exploring the conditions and settings where sharing may or may not have operational and/or environmental trade‐offs.

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“…The ocean carriers group into associations according to the specific trades or routes they are operating, and they cooperate to minimize competition in freight rate. The contents of the inter-carrier agreement may include provisions that setting common tariffs to control prices, limiting the tonnage Ocean shipping alliances available in their trade route, distributing shared revenue and/or offering rebates to loyal shippers (Cariou, 2008;Parola et al, 2014).…”

Section: Nature Of Agreement On Shipping Conferencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Besides, the majority of the carriers that are part of conferences are small-to medium-sized companies. The main routes are largely served through strategic alliances (OECD, 2015;Parola et al, 2014).…”

Section: Erosion Of the Shipping Conference Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anti-competition of ocean shipping alliances: a legal perspective

Tang

Sun

2018

MABR

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Purpose Antitrust exemptions to shipping alliances in the liner shipping sector have prevailed for many years. This study aims to examine anti-competition of ocean shipping alliances from a legal perspective of the USA, the European Union (EU) and People’s Republic of China (PRC). Design/methodology/approach Adopting the standard “doctrinal approach to legal research and analysis” in legal literatures, this paper reviews landmark court cases and legislations in the USA relating to shipping conference system from its beginning to its erosion, followed by its latest transition to non-ratemaking agreements, with discussions on the EU and some PRC treatments on shipping conferences. Findings Although antitrust exemptions to shipping conferences in the liner shipping sector were eliminated in the trades to/from the USA and the EU, there is a lack of evidence of the deterioration found in the viability of liner shipping carriers in both parts of the world trades. For the USA, shipping alliances will shift the focus to sharing resources for improvement of collective operational efficiencies, whereas the shipper groups in the EU have worried that a protected system of sharing information may lead to price fixing conducts among the carriers. Practical implications Through the discussions on the legal treatments of shipping conferences from the USA, the EU and PRC perspectives, this paper provides legal researchers with not only a new research direction on raising collective operational efficiencies through resource sharing but also an insight into shifting their research focus from purely price determination to the area of merger. Originality/value This paper reviews landmark court cases and related legislations about the treatments of different regulatory regimes, including the USA, the EU and PRC, to explore the illegitimacy of anti-competition conducts in ocean shipping alliances.

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Measuring the scope of inter-firm agreements in the container shipping industry: an empirical assessment

Cited by 10 publications

References 37 publications

COVID-19 as a catalyst of a new container port hierarchy in Mediterranean Sea and Northern Range

COVID-19 as a catalyst of a new container port hierarchy in Mediterranean Sea and Northern Range

Vessel sharing and its impact on maritime operations and carbon emissions

Anti-competition of ocean shipping alliances: a legal perspective

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