This paper provides an extensive overview of the economic importance and development of the Flemish maritime ports, over the period 1995 - 2002. Focusing on the three major variables of value added, employment and investment, it also provides some information about the financial situation of a...

Earlier studies have documented that foreign banks charge lower lending rates and interest spreads than domestic banks. We hypothesize that this may stem from the superior efficiency of foreign entrants that they decide to pass onto borrowers (“performance hypothesis”), but could also...