News

Rowe School of Business Professor Emerita Mary R. Brooks has been invited to speak on a subject of her choice at the Maritime Research Symposium in Gothenburg, Sweden, in February 2015. This symposium will celebrate the 275th anniversary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in collaboration with the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, and is only the second such symposium in the history of the RSAS.

The presentation

Shipping regulation, trade realities and social license: the promise (or not) of short sea shipping
Governments seeking to induce the growth and development of short sea shipping often pass market access regulations, either unilaterally or multilaterally, to create a broader market for short sea shipping or provide subsidies to operators to help them grow the market. As is often the case in business decisions, whether or not the private sector invests in the service by either buying it or selling it is more complex than just a case of “incentivize it and we will come.” The presentation will build on a career of research on the topic in North and South America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It will examine three perspectives on the development of short sea shipping and the regulatory environment that supports it: (1) what governments seek and how they propose to implement, (2) what traders and ship operators require to commit and what completely deters their interest, and finally (3) what role is played by citizens and taxpayers. Each interest group can encourage short sea shipping or prevent its development. Taking such a holistic approach allows the audience to contemplate the promise and the reality of short sea shipping, and its probability of being more than just a niche transportation service.