The local determinants of interregional shipping flows

Résumé En

Maritime networks are often analysed in an abstract space of flows from which the local, socio-economic environment of the connected ports are absent. This chapter wishes to complement such a lack by an analysis of combined regional and global statistical data on local economies and maritime flows in Europe and Asia. Classic tools of spatial analysis are performed to explain the amount and nature of such flows by the economic specialisation of the port regions by region pairs. Each region is characterized by employment specialisation in main economic sectors, unemployment, GDP per capita, population, and centrality in the global maritime network in the years 2008/9. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) is applied to a set of regions to further understand statistical relationships between regional and network variables; then to a set of region pairs to deepen the confrontation of inter-regional traffic flows to new variables of interregional gaps (demographic, GDP…) and similarity/dissimilarity in economic structure. Another approach goes further by taking into account interregional distances in a gravity model to extract meaningful evidence on to what extent local economies still influence, in complement to other logistical features, the pattern of flows. Mains results show that although distance affects traffic volume on links, regions with longer linkages concentrate more traffic, while specific traffic concentrate according to the type of local economies being connected.