Port policy: are the Goss principles still relevant today

In 1990, Richard O. Goss wrote four seminal articles about the economic principles underlying port policies, which were published in Maritime Policy and Management under the title Economic Policies and Seaports. These explored the economic functions of seaports, the diversity of port institutions, the need for port authorities, and the strategies that ports might adopt to promote port efficiencies. Economic principles included the existence of seaports for the benefit of traders, the use of competition to maximise public welfare, the customisation of port institutions to meet local circumstances, and the need to involve all levels of government in seaport governance. This paper looks at the relevance of these principles today, and asks what further research is needed to fully understand that relevance.