Market concentration in coastal shipping and limitations to island's accessibility

Since 2001 institutional reforms have occurred in Greek coastal shipping, including attempts to open the market via the implementation of the EU regulation. Yet, islands are confronted with accessibility problems that undermine their equal sharing of economic development and social cohesion. This calls for a revision of the existing transport policies so as to take into consideration the particular characteristics of these regions and the structural difficulties that mark the accessibility from/to the islands.The objective of the paper is to test two research hypotheses. First, whether coastal market is getting more concentrated, during the post-liberalization era. Second, whether islands’ accessibility is reduced mainly due to high levels of coastal companies concentration and the absence of any monitoring process.The research concentrates on the accessibility of islanders in relation to the ferry market concentration, using it as a proxy of market power. The findings indicate high levels of market concentration and a seasonality pattern in the supply side, in turn correlated with fluctuations of the demand in the passenger market. The paper exposes the presence of structural market failures such as accessibility limitations. It concludes with key policy recommendations, suggesting a permanent monitoring mechanism for the coastal market.