Value creation in Port: opening the boundaries to the market

In the era of fierce competition among ports as elements of value chains systems, the opening of the boundaries to the market represents a crucial challenge that Port Authority has to cope with, in order to guarantee a lasting economic and social development of the port and its hinterland. We propose a theoretical framework based on the Resource Based View to analyze value creation in the port and its hinterland through two core concepts: resource allocation and interaction. We illustrate such theoretical framework with the case of the port of Naples and, specifically, the contribution of the Port Authority and other port business operators to the value creation process of Garofalo srl, an export-oriented firm located in its hinterland.