IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/marpmg/v44y2017i6p667-684.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Across the waves: a bibliometric analysis of container shipping research since the 1960s

Author

Listed:
  • Yui-yip Lau
  • César Ducruet
  • Adolf K. Y. Ng
  • Xiaowen Fu

Abstract

The paper investigates collaborative and semantic patterns that emerged between 1967 and 2013 about the theme of container shipping based on a corpus of 294 articles published in scholarly journals within the fields of transportation, supply chain, economics, geography, regional planning and development, and operations research. An analysis based on the co-occurrence of title words allows identifying dominant sub-themes and their evolution. Main results point to the gradual diversification of container shipping research, from the dominance of economics towards a more trans-disciplinary set of approaches which integrate port-related activities and multimodal networks. Yet, disciplinary specialization remains strong up to nowadays so that container shipping research remains rather fragmented. While co-authorships have increased over time, they remain polarized by few, weakly connected research battalions. Our study suggests that research on container shipping would benefit from more frequent contacts between such communities to foster in-depth cross-disciplinary studies and fundamental cooperation.

Suggested Citation

  • Yui-yip Lau & César Ducruet & Adolf K. Y. Ng & Xiaowen Fu, 2017. "Across the waves: a bibliometric analysis of container shipping research since the 1960s," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(6), pages 667-684, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:marpmg:v:44:y:2017:i:6:p:667-684
    DOI: 10.1080/03088839.2017.1311425
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/03088839.2017.1311425
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/03088839.2017.1311425?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. de Langen, Peter W., 2006. "Chapter 20 Stakeholders, Conflicting Interests and Governance in Port Clusters," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 457-477, January.
    2. Wayne K. Talley, 2013. "Maritime transportation research: topics and methodologies," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(7), pages 709-725, December.
    3. Staša Milojević & Cassidy R. Sugimoto & Erjia Yan & Ying Ding, 2011. "The cognitive structure of Library and Information Science: Analysis of article title words," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(10), pages 1933-1953, October.
    4. Guerrero, David & Rodrigue, Jean-Paul, 2014. "The waves of containerization: shifts in global maritime transportation," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 151-164.
    5. Wang, Kun & Fu, Xiaowen & Luo, Meifeng, 2015. "Modeling the impacts of alternative emission trading schemes on international shipping," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 35-49.
    6. Wesley W. Wilson, 2013. "Maritime Policy & Management: a symposium commemorating 40 years of maritime research," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(7), pages 615-617, December.
    7. Ducruet, César, 2017. "Multilayer dynamics of complex spatial networks: The case of global maritime flows (1977–2008)," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 47-58.
    8. Theo E. Notteboom & Athanasios A. Pallis & Peter W. De Langen & Aimilia Papachristou, 2013. "Advances in port studies: the contribution of 40 years Maritime Policy & Management," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(7), pages 636-653, December.
    9. César Ducruet, 2015. "Maritime Networks. Spatial Structures and Time Dynamics," Post-Print hal-03246485, HAL.
    10. Winai Homsombat & Tsz Leung Yip & Hangjun Yang & Xiaowen Fu, 2013. "Regional cooperation and management of port pollution," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(5), pages 451-466, September.
    11. Staša Milojević & Cassidy R. Sugimoto & Erjia Yan & Ying Ding, 2011. "The cognitive structure of Library and Information Science: Analysis of article title words," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(10), pages 1933-1953, October.
    12. John D. Nystuen & Michael F. Dacey, 1961. "A Graph Theory Interpretation Of Nodal Regions," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(1), pages 29-42, January.
    13. Ferrari, C. & Parola, F. & Gattorna, E., 2011. "Measuring the quality of port hinterland accessibility: The Ligurian case," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 382-391, March.
    14. Athanasios Pallis & Thomas Vitsounis & Peter De Langen & Theo Notteboom, 2011. "Port Economics, Policy and Management: Content Classification and Survey," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(4), pages 445-471.
    15. Koi Yu (Adolf) Ng, 2006. "Assessing the Attractiveness of Ports in the North European Container Transhipment Market: An Agenda for Future Research in Port Competition," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 8(3), pages 234-250, September.
    16. Woo, Su-Han & Pettit, Stephen J. & Kwak, Dong-Wook & Beresford, Anthony K.C., 2011. "Seaport research: A structured literature review on methodological issues since the 1980s," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(7), pages 667-685, August.
    17. Ross Robinson, 2002. "Ports as elements in value-driven chain systems: the new paradigm," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 241-255.
    18. Yui-Yip Lau & Adolf K. Y. Ng & Xiaowen Fu & Kevin X. Li, 2013. "Evolution and research trends of container shipping," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(7), pages 654-674, December.
    19. Ng, Adolf K.Y. & Ducruet, César & Jacobs, Wouter & Monios, Jason & Notteboom, Theo & Rodrigue, Jean-Paul & Slack, Brian & Tam, Ka-chai & Wilmsmeier, Gordon, 2014. "Port geography at the crossroads with human geography: between flows and spaces," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 84-96.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alexandridis, George & Kavussanos, Manolis G. & Kim, Chi Y. & Tsouknidis, Dimitris A. & Visvikis, Ilias D., 2018. "A survey of shipping finance research: Setting the future research agenda," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 164-212.
    2. Dan He & Peng Gao & Zhijing Sun & Yui-yip Lau, 2017. "Measuring Water Transport Efficiency in the Yangtze River Economic Zone, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Nicanor García Álvarez & Belarmino Adenso-Díaz & Laura Calzada-Infante, 2021. "Maritime Traffic as a Complex Network: a Systematic Review," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 387-417, June.
    4. Buddhi A. Weerasinghe & H. Niles Perera & Xiwen Bai, 2024. "Optimizing container terminal operations: a systematic review of operations research applications," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 26(2), pages 307-341, June.
    5. Yui-Yip Lau & Cristina Dragomir & Yuk-Ming Tang & Adolf K. Y. Ng, 2021. "Maritime Undergraduate Students: Career Expectations and Choices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-18, April.
    6. Liehui Wang & Yuanbo Zheng & César Ducruet & Fan Zhang, 2019. "Investment Strategy of Chinese Terminal Operators along the “21st-Century Maritime Silk Road”," Post-Print halshs-02092097, HAL.
    7. Panahi, Roozbeh & Ng, Adolf K.Y. & Pang, Jiayi, 2020. "Climate change adaptation in the port industry: A complex of lingering research gaps and uncertainties," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 10-29.
    8. Ducruet, César & Panahi, Roozbeh & Ng, Adolf K.Y. & Jiang, Changmin & Afenyo, Mawuli, 2019. "Between geography and transport: A scientometric analysis of port studies in Journal of Transport Geography," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    9. Liehui Wang & Yuanbo Zheng & Cesar Ducruet & Fan Zhang, 2019. "Investment Strategy of Chinese Terminal Operators along the “21st-Century Maritime Silk Road”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-21, April.
    10. Panahi, Roozbeh & Ng, Adolf K.Y. & Afenyo, Mawuli & Lau, Yui-yip, 2021. "Reflecting on forty years contextual evolution of arctic port research: The past and now," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 189-203.
    11. Kevin Tierney & Jan Fabian Ehmke & Ann Melissa Campbell & Daniel Müller, 2019. "Liner shipping single service design problem with arrival time service levels," Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 620-652, September.
    12. Zheng, Shiyuan & Fu, Xiaowen & Jiang, Changmin & Ge, Ying-En, 2020. "Airline investments in exclusive airport facilities: Timing decisions under demand ambiguity," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 343-363.
    13. Zheng, Shiyuan & Ge, Ying-En & Fu, Xiaowen & (Marco) Nie, Yu & Xie, Chi, 2020. "Demand information sharing in port concession arrangements," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 118-143.
    14. Tianjiao Li & Qiong Chen & Yongtao Xi & Yui-Yip Lau, 2023. "A 40-Year Bibliometric Analysis of Maritime English Research: Insights and Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-15, February.
    15. Zhu, Shengda & Fu, Xiaowen & Bell, Michael G.H., 2021. "Container shipping line port choice patterns in East Asia the effects of port affiliation and spatial dependence," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    16. Haiying Jia & Ove Daae Lampe & Veronika Solteszova & Siri P. Strandenes, 2017. "Norwegian port connectivity and its policy implications," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(8), pages 956-966, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ducruet, César & Panahi, Roozbeh & Ng, Adolf K.Y. & Jiang, Changmin & Afenyo, Mawuli, 2019. "Between geography and transport: A scientometric analysis of port studies in Journal of Transport Geography," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. César Ducruet, 2020. "The geography of maritime networks: A critical review," Post-Print halshs-02922543, HAL.
    3. Ha, Min-Ho & Yang, Zaili & Lam, Jasmine Siu Lee, 2019. "Port performance in container transport logistics: A multi-stakeholder perspective," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 25-40.
    4. Ducruet, César, 2017. "Multilayer dynamics of complex spatial networks: The case of global maritime flows (1977–2008)," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 47-58.
    5. Ducruet, César, 2020. "The geography of maritime networks: A critical review," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. César Ducruet & Sylvain Cuyala & Ali El Hosni, 2018. "Maritime networks as systems of cities: The long-term interdependencies between global shipping flows and urban development (1890–2010)," Post-Print halshs-01676756, HAL.
    7. Wenming Shi & Kevin X. Li, 2017. "Themes and tools of maritime transport research during 2000-2014," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(2), pages 151-169, February.
    8. Moura, Ticiana Grecco Zanon & Garcia-Alonso, Lorena & Salas-Olmedo, María Henar, 2017. "Delimiting the scope of the hinterland of ports: Proposal and case study," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 35-43.
    9. Ducruet, César & Cuyala, Sylvain & El Hosni, Ali, 2018. "Maritime networks as systems of cities: The long-term interdependencies between global shipping flows and urban development (1890–2010)," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 340-355.
    10. Wang, Grace W.Y. & Zeng, Qingcheng & Li, Kevin & Yang, Jinglei, 2016. "Port connectivity in a logistic network: The case of Bohai Bay, China," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 341-354.
    11. César Ducruet & Liehui Wang, 2018. "China’s Global Shipping Connectivity: Internal and External Dynamics in the Contemporary Era (1890–2016)," Post-Print halshs-01832319, HAL.
    12. Notteboom, Theo, 2016. "The adaptive capacity of container ports in an era of mega vessels: The case of upstream seaports Antwerp and Hamburg," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 295-309.
    13. Laure Rousset & César Ducruet, 2020. "Disruptions in Spatial Networks: a Comparative Study of Major Shocks Affecting Ports and Shipping Patterns," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 423-447, June.
    14. Su-Han Woo & Stephen Pettit & Anthony Beresford & Dong-Wook Kwak, 2012. "Seaport Research: A Decadal Analysis of Trends and Themes Since the 1980s," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(3), pages 351-377, January.
    15. Bai, Xiwen & Zhang, Xiunian & Li, Kevin X. & Zhou, Yaoming & Yuen, Kum Fai, 2021. "Research topics and trends in the maritime transport: A structural topic model," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 11-24.
    16. S. Veldman & L. Garcia-Alonso & M. Liu, 2016. "Testing port choice models using physical and monetary data: a comparative case study for the Spanish container trades," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(4), pages 495-508, May.
    17. Shi, Xin & Jiang, Haizhou & Li, Huan & Xu, Dong, 2020. "Maritime cluster research: Evolutionary classification and future development," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 237-254.
    18. Justin Berli & Mattia Bunel & César Ducruet, 2018. "Sea-Land Interdependence in the Global Maritime Network: the Case of Australian Port Cities," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 447-471, September.
    19. Sdoukopoulos, Eleftherios & Boile, Maria, 2020. "Port-hinterland concept evolution: A critical review," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    20. Alexandridis, George & Kavussanos, Manolis G. & Kim, Chi Y. & Tsouknidis, Dimitris A. & Visvikis, Ilias D., 2018. "A survey of shipping finance research: Setting the future research agenda," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 164-212.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:marpmg:v:44:y:2017:i:6:p:667-684. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/TMPM20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.