Abstract
This chapter considers the results of micro-economic and political-institutional research that has been carried out into the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam and investigates whether it can help to understand why the two ports have made quite different choices as regards labour organization on the docks.1 Despite the fact that ports like Antwerp, Hamburg, Bremen, Le Havre and Rotterdam all share the same hinterland and therefore compete with each other for market share, competition between specifically Antwerp and Rotterdam has become an important focus of attention in previous research projects.2
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Notes
G. Devos (1993) De Antwerpse naties: zes eeuwen actief in stad en haven ( Tielt: Lannoo).
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E. Nijhof (1988) Gezien de dreigende onrust in de haven. De ontwikkeling van de arbeidsverhoudingen in de Rotterdamse haven 1945–1965 ( Amsterdam: IISG ).
I. Wijnens (2002) ‘New Notes on an Old Keyboard. From the Traditional Naties to Integrated Terminal Operators 1918–1994’, in J. Blomme (ed.) Momentum. Antwerp’s Port Between 1880 and the Present Day (Antwerp: Pandora), pp. 171–89.
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S. Vanfraechem (2002) ‘From the Union générale to the Major Act. Industrial Relations in the Port of Antwerp 1880–1972’, in J. Blomme (ed.) Momentum. Antwerp’s Port Between 1880 and the Present Day (Antwerp: Pandora) pp. 153–69;
S. Vanfraechem (2002) ‘The Antwerp Docker Between Militantism and Pragmatism 1900–1972’, International Journal of Maritime History, XIV, 2, pp. 167–80.
H. Van Driel (2003) ‘The First Mechanization Wave in Coal and Ore Handling as an Example of Patterns of Technological Innovation in the Port of Rotterdam’, in R. Loyen, E. Buyst, G. Devos (eds) Struggling for Leadership: Antwerp -Rotterdam Port Competition Between 1870–2000 ( Heidelberg: Springer Verlag ) pp. 299–320;
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H. Van Driel, R. Loyen and S. Hoste (2004) ‘Cargo Handling Costs: Competition in the Break-Bulk Sector’, in F. De Goey (ed.), Comparative Port History of Rotterdam and Antwerp 1880–2000. Competition, Cargo and Costs, pp. 177–214.
S. Vanfraechem (2003) ‘La peur du rouge. Communist action-committees in the port of Antwerp during the 1930’s and 1940’s’, Northern Mariner, XIII, nr. 2, pp. 25–42.
P. Verhoeven, Havenarbeiders van Amsterdam en Rotterdam. Sociologische analyse van een arbeidsmarkt (Leiden, 1963 ) p. 447.
S. Vanfraechem (2003) ‘Much Ado About Nothing? Reorganising the Hiring System and Decasualisation in the Port of Antwerp During the 1960s: Motives, Obstacles, Outcome’, in R. Loyen, E. Buyst, G. Devos Struggling for Leadership: Antwerp-Rotterdam Port Competition Between 1870–2000, ( Springer Verlag: Heidelberg ), pp. 257–74.
T. Notteboom (2003) ‘Thirty-Five Years of Containerization in Antwerp and Rotterdam: Structural Changes in the Container Handling Market’, in R. Loyen, E. Buyst, G. Devos Struggling for leadership: Antwerp–Rotterdam Port Competition Between 1870–2000, ( Springer Verlag: Heidelberg ), pp. 117–42.
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© 2012 Stephan Vanfraechem
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Vanfraechem, S. (2012). Why They are Tall and We are Small! Competition between Antwerp and Rotterdam in the Twentieth Century. In: Harlaftis, G., Tenold, S., Valdaliso, J.M. (eds) The World’s Key Industry. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137003751_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137003751_9
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