Merk, O., Manshanden, W. and Dröes, M. (2013). Inter-regional spillovers of seaports: the case of North-West Europe International Journal of Transport Economics, 40(3):401--417.

This article describes the inter-regional spillover of seaports by assessing four large ports in Northwest Europe: Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg and Le Havre. The authors disaggregate national input/output-tables to the level of the functional port area and calculate the relevant Leontief multipliers in order to assess the extent and distribution of inter-regional economic spillovers. The authors characterize input-output tables as a way to describe monetary transactions between sectors in a country; the variables of interest are linked to other main key variables of a national economy. Thus, key indicators such as value added, import and export, can be included. The authors found that the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp have smaller overall multipliers but relatively large impacts on their own regional economies, in particular on the petro-chemical sector. In contrast, the ports of Hamburg and Le Havre have higher overall multipliers and show relatively high impacts on regions further away from the port, such as Bavaria and Ile-de-France. The authors conclude by discussing the policy implications of their results.