Basic Dynamics of the Shipping Industry: Economic Cycles, Technology, and Regulation
The paper titled "Basic Dynamics of the Shipping Industry: Economic Cycles, Technology, and Regulation" by Stig Tenold and Sunshin Cho has been published in the book The Oxford Handbook of Industry Dynamics, published by Oxford University Press.
abstract
This chapter discusses the dynamics of the shipping industry, one of the industries that define the modern global economy. Shipping is a core activity in the international economy, enabling the international division of labour and the use of comparative advantage. The aim of this chapter is to present the basic economic principles of the shipping industry in a historical perspective. To explain the dynamics of the industry, the chapter considers three factors that shape how shipping markets function and how the economic agents act: demand and economic cycles, technology, and ownership and regulation. The basic output of the shipping industry—transport of commodities and products—has remained the same throughout the last centuries. However, the way in which the industry has fulfilled this function, has been radically transformed.