Port recentralization as a balance of interest

Technical-rational model is prevalent in the port integration literature, while important issues, such as context, legitimacy, power and interest, are largely being ignored as it stands. By taking the “diversified implementations” in Chinese port industry recentralization (2015–2018) as an illustrative case, this paper aims to addresses the research questions of ‘why do diversified implementations arise’ and ‘why are actual implementations various among different regions’. As a preliminary study on diversified implementations in port industry, we develop a theoretical framework to interpret different implementations of port integration carried out by regional governments, who are embedded in the social-economic environment. Our study shows that market structure and power distribution, as two variables, can be used to explain the variation among different actual implementations of port integration. The findings are further validated with the port merge case in San Pedro Bay area. Based on the findings, managerial implications are drawn.