Italian seaports' competition policies: Facts and figures

Three decades ago, ports were generally regarded as homogeneous entities that competed with each other at different operational levels. In the course of the 1990s, however, the “port product” increasingly came to be seen as a set of interlinking functions, with the port as such serving as one of the links in the overall logistic chain. The most recent literature has revisited the concept of port competition to take due account of the complex and heterogeneous nature of ports today. Moreover, the focus is no longer exclusively on competition between ports, but increasingly also on internal competition, between individual production companies and service providers operating within or making use of the same port setting.Starting from the above framework, this paper focuses on the exogenous and endogenous variables that can affect port competition, which ultimately provides insight into potential strategies for improving the competitiveness of Italy's seaports.

► The paper focuses on the exogenous and endogenous variables that can affect port competition. ► A detailed description of different port typologies and related services are provided. ► Potential strategies for improving the competitiveness of Italy's seaports are presented.