Title: Port policy: are the Goss principles still relevant today?

Authors: Mary R. Brooks; Sheila Farrell

Addresses: Rowe School of Business, Dalhousie University, P.O. Box 15000, Halifax B3H 4R2, Canada ' Port Operations Research and Technology Centre, Imperial College, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, UK

Abstract: In 1990, Richard O. Goss wrote four seminal articles about the economic principles underlying port policies, which were published in Maritime Policy and Management under the title Economic Policies and Seaports. These explored the economic functions of seaports, the diversity of port institutions, the need for port authorities, and the strategies that ports might adopt to promote port efficiencies. Economic principles included the existence of seaports for the benefit of traders, the use of competition to maximise public welfare, the customisation of port institutions to meet local circumstances, and the need to involve all levels of government in seaport governance. This paper looks at the relevance of these principles today, and asks what further research is needed to fully understand that relevance.

Keywords: seaports; port policies; port reform; governance; institutions; port competition; regulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTL.2019.102140

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, 2019 Vol.11 No.5, pp.405 - 421

Received: 23 Dec 2017
Accepted: 18 Jun 2018
Published online: 09 Sep 2019 *

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