The Way a Third Generation Port Can Boost Local Employment: The Case of Piraeus

This paper starts with a presentation of the three generation of Ports within increasing emphasis to the two latest practical models (1960-1980 and 1981 – today). The third generation of ports maintained of course the traditional services, but had to offer different administrative and commercial ones, new services towards the protection of environment and distribution services. Successful ports had to understand their new role in the logistics chain, including information flow. The old model where ports were monopolies/ points in space due to the exclusive dual combination of sea-port-sea changed radically as logistics’ idea and network, emerged, investing also on other means of transport. Then we dealt with the Port of Piraeus (PP) case, with a historical analysis, its deregulation in 1999, and its traffic. Then I have examined in detail per service offered, the port’s impact on local employment and on number of enterprises. The employment provided is round the 33.000 persons in 2100 companies but on an historical diminishing fashion. Something happened also internationally in all the third generation ports (ports handling containers). The underlying idea however is that container traffic and container terminals are the least in helping employment in the local economy. Finally, I run certain regression to find out the correlation between country’s population, GDP, Seaborne GDP, economic active population and port of Piraeus traffic.