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Unionised dockworkers and port ownership structure in an international oligopoly

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  • Meccheri, Nicola

Abstract

In an international duopoly with two markets and two ports, this paper investigates the role of dockworkers unionisation in determining the endogenous choice by governments of port ownership structure. While private ports maximise profits, public ports maximise domestic welfare and face a budget constraint, which is binding when unions are sufficiently wage-oriented and shipping costs are not too high. State-owned ports appear as the most likely equilibrium result although all possible configurations may arise in equilibrium, including an asymmetric structure with a state-owned port and a private port. Country size asymmetry, product differentiation and price competition in product markets favour the rise of a joint public ownership structure of ports. This structure also maximises domestic welfare when unions are wage-oriented.

Suggested Citation

  • Meccheri, Nicola, 2024. "Unionised dockworkers and port ownership structure in an international oligopoly," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecotra:v:40:y:2024:i:c:s2212012224000388
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecotra.2024.100379
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unionised dockworkers; Port ownership structure; International duopoly;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy

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