COMPETITIVENESS OF CONTAINER PORTS IN A REGION WITH COOPERATION AND INTEGRATION

Abstract

In order to cope with the ever-increasing competitive environment and enhance the overallcompetitiveness of ports in a region, cooperation between adjacent container ports as well asintegration of regional ports is emerging. The main purpose of this paper is to explore causalrelationships between influential factors, types of port cooperation (i.e. complementary cooperationand coopetition), integration of ports, and the overall competitiveness of ports in a region. The resultsindicate that complementary cooperation, coopetition and integration of ports are all positivelyinfluence the overall competitiveness of ports in a region. Overall speaking, the competitive intensitytoward competitiveness of regional ports through either complementary cooperation or integration isbetter, and innovation of ports toward the competitiveness of regional ports through coopetition isbetter than other ways. Therefore, it is suggested that port authorities can choice either cooperation orintegration to enhance the overall competitiveness of ports in a region.