Economic Contribution of Ports to the Local Economies in Korea *

Ports function as important gateways of international trade and, accordingly, they tend to be regarded as major accelerators of local economic development in the age of globalization. However, due to advancement of logistic technology, change of economic structure and so on, local benefits derived from ports show decreasing trend. In this paper, major literatures regarding port-city interface are reviewed and input-output linkage effects of ports are examined. And then, the relationship between ports and economic performances of major port cities in Korea are discussed based on empirical data of port throughput and economic indicators. According to the analyses, typical port cities of Busan and Incheon failed to get out of poor state of economic performances until lately. It seems the convenience of readily available port services cannot guarantee economic success of the cities where ports are located. Local economies may no longer benefit much from nearby ports.