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Port competition in Latin America and the Caribbean: the role of concessions and competition policy

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  • Ancor Suárez-Alemán
  • Tomás Serebrisky
  • Oscar Ponce De León

Abstract

Appropriate port regulation and competitive forces tend to be related to higher levels of operational and economic performance of ports. From a policy-making perspective, pursuing efficiency and securing competition in ports to reach a level playing field is a two-step process requiring (1) ex-ante regulations to set the rules that maximize the competition for the market, especially when the policy objective is to attract private operations to ports on competitive concession processes and (2) ex-post competition policy to monitor and preserve competition in the market. This paper studies port regulation in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) from a competition perspective, analyzing both ex-ante and ex-post policies implemented in the region. The analysis reveals that the competitive environment in LAC is low, giving room for possible anticompetitive practices in the LAC port sector. Since the end of the 1990s, approximately 80% of container terminals in the region were granted to only five companies. Chile and Mexico have been found to be the best practices in the region, with better conditions assuring robust competition in the market. The main policy implication from this analysis is the need for a stronger involvement of antitrust agencies throughout the port concession processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Ancor Suárez-Alemán & Tomás Serebrisky & Oscar Ponce De León, 2018. "Port competition in Latin America and the Caribbean: the role of concessions and competition policy," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(5), pages 665-683, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:marpmg:v:45:y:2018:i:5:p:665-683
    DOI: 10.1080/03088839.2017.1418538
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    Cited by:

    1. López-Bermúdez, Beatriz & Freire-Seoane, María Jesús & Nieves-Martínez, Diego José, 2019. "Port efficiency in Argentina from 2012 to 2017: An ally for sustained economic growth," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    2. Merkel, Axel & Sløk-Madsen, Stefan Kirkegaard, 2019. "Lessons from port sector regulatory reforms in Denmark: An analysis of port governance and institutional structure outcomes," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 31-41.

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