@article{fdi:010080297,
  title = {{C}apacity management by global shipping alliances : findings from a game experiment},
  author = {{C}ariou, {P}. and {G}uillotreau, {P}atrice},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}he present article uses game experiments to understand the dynamics of oligopolistic competition in liner shipping markets. {W}e show how a limited number of carriers, interacting over time, acting independently or grouped into global shipping alliances, are able to effectively and jointly reduce excess capacity. {A} serious game (called {TRALIN}) has been designed to this end, mimicking the global liner shipping market where four to five global shipping alliances compete on a set of 12 routes, connecting four ports of call for a few sequential voyages. {C}arriers are initially subject to low profits due to over-capacity and have to anticipate competitor capacity decisions and vessel deployment simultaneously. {R}esults from 18 experimental games with 4644 decisions were collected and statistically analysed to confirm the main tenets of oligopoly theory and to highlight the existence of a learning effect from successive interactions (rounds in games). {O}ur results suggest that a 'coordinated' reduction in capacity is more likely to occur when the number of competitors is limited, but even more when excessive capacity is high, urging the need for cooperation; a learning effect amongst market participants is detected over time. {S}erious games are flexible tools for improving our understanding of competition, the organization of liner shipping networks, and the role played by global shipping alliances. {T}his tool may help practitioners to understand how over-capacity is evolving within the competitive process, and what factors may influence it. {A}lthough voluntarily made simplistic for the purpose of experiments, our design allows one to focus on the main tenets of oligopoly theory as applied to shipping markets.},
  keywords = {{O}ligopoly ; {D}irected networks ; {S}erious game ; {S}hipping ; {G}lobal shipping alliances ; {C}apacity management},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{M}aritime {E}conomics and {L}ogistics},
  volume = {24},
  numero = {1},
  pages = {41--66},
  ISSN = {1479-2931},
  year = {2022},
  DOI = {10.1057/s41278-021-00184-9},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010080297},
}