Analysis of factors underlying foreign entry strategies of terminal operators in container ports

Port reforms around the world have opened regional container port terminal markets. The emergence of a wide array of global terminal operators has led to a differentiation in entry strategies driven by their respective objectives and by factors exogenous to the firm.This paper looks at antecedent factors that play a role in a company’s entry strategy in a public–private partnership (PPP) setting by performing binomial logistic regression on a large sample of container terminal deals over the period 2002–2010. More specifically, it analyses to what extent firm-specific, external, project and cross-cultural factors play a decisive role in the choice between direct PPPs (i.e. stepping into a new PPP arrangement such as a new concession agreement) and indirect PPPs (i.e. stepping into an existing PPP arrangement through acquisitions).The empirical findings demonstrate the pivotal role of some firm specific characteristics (market experience and business model), external factors (host country development and market openness, government effectiveness, market concentration degree, and market saturation) and project-related factors (project size, number of partners involved, and equity joint venture with the Port Authority), also unveiling some preliminary results in relation to cross-cultural variables.     

Perception and attitude of Hong Kong hotel guest‐contact employees towards tourists from Mainland China

In recent years, the majority of arrivals to Hong Kong, which were once dominated by the Western and Japanese markets, were replaced by arrivals from Mainland China. The number of tourists from Mainland China has overtaken others to become the largest single market for the territory. With its increasing significance, providing quality service to these visitors becomes crucial to the success of the tourism industry and of the hotel industry in particular. Unfortunately, the satisfaction rating of the Mainland visitors on hotel services in Hong Kong is reported to be relatively low when compared to those given by other major markets. It is suspected that the perception and attitudes of the service staff may influence their behaviour in serving customers. As such, this study conducted a survey questionnaire with 228 guest‐contact employees of hotels in Hong Kong. Results indicate that most respondents have a fairly positive perception towards the Mainland tourists in relation to the economic and financial benefits that they bring to Hong Kong. However, a majority of the respondents express negative perception and attitudes towards these tourists in respect to their appearance, personalities and behaviour. Despite some respondents indicating that they exhibit different service behaviour towards visitors from Mainland China and other countries, no major significant differences in their perception and attitudes were found in this study. It is recommended that various types of cross‐cultural training, such as sensitivity training and role playing, would be helpful to guest‐contact employees in enhancing their ability to be more objective and more tolerant of other people's behaviour. This study concludes that hotel employees, especially those who work as front‐line staff, must remain aware of their subjective judgments when dealing with guests and be more accepting of others. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial competition between parking garages and downtown parking policy

This paper looks at optimal parking policy in dense urban districts (“downtown”), where spatial competition between parking garages is a key feature, from the perspective of economic theory. The paper has four parts. The first looks at the “parking garage operator's problem”. The second derives equilibrium in the parking garage market when there is no on-street parking, compares the equilibrium to the social optimum, and examines optimal parking policy in this context. Since parking garage operators have market power, the spatial competition equilibrium is generally inefficient, and parking policy can be used to mitigate the distortion. The third adds on-street parking and considers how its underpricing affects second-best parking policy. The fourth adds mass transit, and considers how economies of scale in mass transit interact with minimum and maximum off-street parking standards.Preliminary draft: Please do not cite or quote without the permission of the author.     

合资铁路深化混合所有制改革研究

合资铁路是我国铁路行业实施混合所有制改革的先驱者,由于不断增大的投资需求,吸纳社会资本不足、财务风险高、经营机制落后等问题,合资铁路进一步深化混合所有制改革突破发展瓶颈。从合资铁路投资政策现状出发,阐述深化合资铁路混合所有制改革的问题及难点。在此基础上,重点分析合资铁路混合所有制改革,提出深化合资铁路混改基本原则,以机构投资者、一般法人资本、员工持股计划、政府引导基金和境外资本5类社会资本为主,分析潜在社会资本匹配度,加大力度吸引社会资本参与合资铁路投资建设。     

Medical tourism: Chinese maternity tourism to Hong Kong

This paper provides a quantitative approach to investigate the determinants of Chinese maternity tourism (birth tourism) to Hong Kong with an Autoregressive Distribution Lag (ARDL) cointegration methodology with bounds testing of Pesaran, Shin, and Smith (2001) over the period from 1991 to 2011. Specifically, this paper examines the joint effects of the right of abode of Chinese babies born in Hong Kong and the launch of Individual Visit Scheme for Mainland Chinese tourists on maternity tourism to Hong Kong. Empirical results show that persistent growth in income and appreciation of the Chinese yuan lead to a higher demand for maternity tourism.     

Tacit collusion between two terminals of a port

With the recent deregulation of container service rates and the establishment of more joint venture terminals in China, the separation of ownership and operation of container terminals will make price competition fierce in one port area. In this study we present an analysis of the price competition between two container terminals using a two-stage non-cooperative game theoretical model. Our main finding is that price-matching strategies facilitate tacit collusion between container terminals. Numerical simulation is applied to the container terminals at the Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai, China.     

衢常铁路建设始末及启示

阐述修建衢常铁路的意义，分析衢常铁路股权变动的过程，针对衢常铁路运营中的一些问题，探讨合资铁路建设运营管理相关问题。     

Making urban road pricing acceptable and effective: searching for quality and equity in urban mobility

Urban Road Pricing has been proposed many times as a powerful instrument to fight congestion in urban traffic, but has systematically faced a hostile political envirionment, due to lack of confidence on its promised (traffic) results and fear of its political consequences. Lack of action in this front is contributing to stable or even growing congestion problems in most large cities.This paper tries to address the problem with a fresh look at the objectives of road pricing and at the reasons for that political hostility. For managing and developing the urban mobility system, efficiency and equity are normally taken as the basic economic objectives. Sustainability objectives may be integrated in the efficiency objective if we are able to represent adequately the costs of the resources consumed in the process. Political hostility is normally based on having to pay for what was freely available, and on the risk of exclusion for those with little revenue available for the extra cost of driving into the city.Pursuit of efficency leads to suggestion of marginal social cost pricing but this is hard to explain to the public and application of this principle is fraught with pitfalls since some components of that cost get smaller as traffic grows (noise related costs for example). Pricing is still a good option but the objective has to be something easier to understand and to serve as a target for mobility managers. That “new” objective is quality of the mobility system, with a meaning similar to that of “level of service” in traffic engineering, and prices should be managed to across space, time and transport modes in such a way that provision of service is made with good quality in all components.Pursuit of equity leads to some form of rationing, which has often been associated with high transaction costs and abuse by the administrators. But the use of electronic road pricing should allow easy ways to address the rationing process without such high costs. The basic proposition is that all local taxpayers receive as a direct restitution of their tax contribution a certain amount of “mobility rights”, which can be used both for private car driving in the tolled areas and for riding public transport.These principles are easily applicable with a variety of technical solutions for road pricing, from the simplest cordon pricing to the more sophisticated “pay-as-you-go” schemes. The paper addresses this question of implementation and argues for increasingly sophisticated schemes, as people get accustomed to the principles and finer targeting of demand segments may be needed.     

Tourism and the state in Cuba: from the past to the future

It has long been recognised that nature and extent of state intervention in tourism development closely reflects the prevailing political‐economy and ideology within the destination state. This is certainly the case with Cuba which, since the 1959 revolution and despite the collapse of communism elsewhere, remains the world's only centrally‐planned economy that boasts a significant international tourism sector. Tracing the development of tourism since 1959, this paper explores the relationship between the evolution of Cuba's political‐economic structures and processes and their subsequent influence on the planning, control, development and ownership of tourism on the island. In particular, it considers the potential future of tourism in Cuba, challenging the widespread belief that, in a post‐Castro era, the island's tourism sector faces a bright future. It concludes that, even with a potential move towards market reform, significant improvements will be required with respect to the quality, value and diversity of the island's tourism product. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The geographic effects of US airline alliances

Code-share agreements in the airline industry allow participants the opportunity to offer service to destinations they do not physically serve. This paper concentrates on the recently proposed domestic code-share agreements between United/Delta, Continental/Northwest, and American/US Airways, six of the largest commercial carriers in the United States. Changes in destinations served as well as geographic regions of dominance based upon market share are examined. The result is a clearer view of regions of dominance for each alliance in the United States. The proposed United/Delta alliance shows an expansion across the entire United States. The Continental/Northwest alliance allows the carriers to compete with the “Big Three”. The American/US Airways proposed alliance appears to benefit US Airways (US) more than American.     

Ethical and moral considerations of airline management

Air transport is a relatively new industry. It has expanded rapidly and now is an exceptionally safe way to travel. But all may not be well. Despite all this achievement, the human face of commercial aviation has been somewhat tarnished by the very prolific growth of carriage by air, and the monotonous regularity with which it is executed. Aviation business management needs to go back to basics, where the formula “everyone needs to know and feel that he is needed; and everyone wants to be treated as an individual” has to be revisited in the face of modern exigencies experienced by the passenger. The issue is likely to gain in importance in the future as economic, political and social trends affect the types of people who wish to use air transport. Airline managers have to be aware of the need to identify passengers in need and offer tangible support and assistance. This article addresses issues relating to the human face of aviation management and looks at some of the proposals to improve current practices.     

Tourism demand in Hong Kong: income,prices, and visa restrictions

This paper examines the determinants of Hong Kong tourism demand for the top-three major tourist arrival countries, namely Mainland China, Taiwan, and Japan, with an error correction model. Specifically, this paper will examine the effects of relaxing the visa requirement, the launch of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), for Mainland Chinese tourists in 2003. Empirical results show that tourists are income-elastic and consider international tourism to be a luxury good. Tourists are more sensitive to changes in the nominal exchange rate than to changes in the foreign pricing level. The positive effect of the launch of the IVS for Mainland Chinese tourists outweighs the adverse impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) on tourism demand for Hong Kong.     

Network effects and total economic impact in transport appraisal

It is sometimes claimed that transport infrastructure projects have network effects, which are not taken into account in the appraisal of these projects. This paper reviews the concept of network effects, relates this to transport appraisal practice, and links to the concept of ‘total economic impact’. The limitations of transport modelling and appraisal in estimating total economic impact are reviewed. Good quality appraisals should be capable of picking up relevant network effects in the transport market, but the state of the art remains limited on the linkages between transport and the wider economy.     

The evolution of a regional container port system: the Pearl River Delta

This study investigates the progress of container port system development in South China, focusing particularly on the interplay between Hong Kong and the other ports in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. After identifying the downgrading trend of Hong Kong from a transshipment hub port for Asia and for China as a whole to a regional load center and the emergence of other deep-sea direct-service ports, the paper looks into the causes of this structural change of the port system. Four major causes are identified: the cost-base competition, the impact of the unique “one-country two-systems” policy, the impact of globalization and container standardization, and the impact of multi-modal accessibility and connectivity. The paper reveals that the interplay between different governments and between the governments and port operators are the local mechanisms that together as a whole respond to the shippers’ needs and the shipping lines’ pressure. It confirms that the interdependencies and competitive relations between terminals are being played out at a regional level. While the particular situation of the PRD is unique in many regards, the features emerging there, with its dominant hub, its network of feeder ports and its emerging direct-service non-hub terminals, are being replicated elsewhere.     

统筹发展经营合资铁路非运输业——广铁集团合资铁路非运输业经营研究

结合广州铁路（集团）公司合资铁路非运输业经营发展情况，分析合资铁路非运输业自发展经营的局限性和统筹发展合资铁路非运输业经营的必要性，提出通过委托经营、租赁经营、合作经营、合资经营等途径统筹发展合资铁路非运输业业务，通过资产重组和企业重构的途径统筹发展合资铁路资本运作。     

Economic crisis and tourism competitiveness in Spain: permanent effects or transitory shocks?

This paper considers the influence of business cycles and economic crises on Spain's tourism competitiveness. This competitiveness is measured by its share in world tourism. Analysing the presence of unit roots in the market share series from 1958 to 2010, the permanent effects of economic crises on competitiveness are evaluated. The evidence from standard linear unit root tests indicates that crises on Spanish market shares are highly persistent. When we account for endogenously determined structural breaks, we obtain greater support for stationarity, but breakpoints are identified with major economic crises. Therefore the main conclusion obtained is that the effects of the economic shocks are not neutral on competitiveness, with the negative effects being more persistent in highly intensive crises. These crises reinforce a natural downward trend of the Spanish world tourism market share caused by the natural emergence of new competing destinations and by the maturity of the Spain's principal tourism product.     

改革运输企业收入清算方式 建立铁路现代企业制度

中国加入WTO后,铁路货运市场将以逐步开放的姿态融入市场经济体系和经济全球化的进程中。这对中国铁路运输业来说,既是机遇更是挑战。在铁路管理体制的发展变化中,运输企业经历了多种分配方式和清算办法的历史过程。随着国家经济体制改革的逐步深入和社会主义市场经济的逐步确立,建立适应市场经济条件的铁路运输企业收入清算系统已成为铁路运输体制改革和现代企业制度建立的必要条件。     

The adaptive capacity of container ports in an era of mega vessels: The case of upstream seaports Antwerp and Hamburg

Port system development is a key theme in port geography literature. Recent decades have brought a rise in container terminal development at estuarine, coastal and offshore port locations, in part driven by scale increases in vessel size. This paper examines how container ports located upstream on rivers use processes of adaptive capacity building in an attempt to remain competitive in port systems. We link the development path of upstream seaports to a range of economic, technological, social and political factors. When combined, these factors shape the willingness and capacity of an upstream seaport to adapt to changing conditions such as an increasing demand for nautical accessibility. The case study results on Antwerp and Hamburg show that the discussion on the future of these upstream seaports cannot be detached from broader public policy and stakeholder management concerns and the influences of retention mechanisms, power, politics and collective action by the port community.     

Hong Kong's aviation and tourism growth - An empirical investigation

This study investigates the critical link between aviation and tourism growth in Hong Kong, with a focus on the identification of causal relationships between scheduled airline seat capacity and visitor arrivals. This is achieved through the cointegration analysis and Granger-causality test, using monthly data collected from Hong Kong's top 17 tourist source markets during 2008–2018. Our analysis finds clear evidence of an overall two-way causal relationship between airline scheduled capacity and tourist arrivals. The positive externalities between the two crucial sectors to the Hong Kong economy call for coordinated planning and policy design in the tourism and aviation sectors, and justify continued government support. On the other hand, market-specific features are evident in selected markets. Such heterogeneity is likely due to airline network effect and regulation in the international market. Therefore, direct subsidy is not always an efficient support measure. A combination of liberalization policy and industry supports are preferred in views of the benefits to be achieved for the two sectors and the Hong Kong economy.