Choice of financing and governance structures in transport industry : theory and practice
Document Type
Book chapter
Source Publication
Dynamic shipping and port development in the globalized economy
Publication Date
1-1-2016
Volume
1
First Page
150
Last Page
177
Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract
The purpose of this work is to develop a descriptive theory of corporate finance and corporate governance for the world transport industry. More specifically, we examine the economic, institutional, and industrial factors behind a transportation company’s choice of different financing mechanisms and governance structures (collectively called “financing methods”). This combined treatment of corporate finance and corporate governance is in line with Williamson (1988), who argues that “the supply of a good or service and its governance need to be examined simultaneously”. This is a step further than the traditional approach in corporate finance, which tends to limit its investigation of a firm’s choice of financial structure (i.e., debt vs. equity) in aggregate, with no follow-on inquiry into the resultant governance structure at an individual firm or industry level. The value of the level of aggregation and abstraction in neo-classical financial theory, along with the simplifying assumptions that are usually made, lies in their potential for clarifying difficult analytic issues, but it also rules out important practical considerations which influence financial system form and functions (Neave, 1991).
DOI
10.1057/9781137514295_7
Publisher Statement
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Additional Information
This chapter is a reprint of Gong, S.X.H., Firth, M., and Cullinane, K.P.B. (2005), Choice of Financing and Governance Structures in Transport Industry: Theory and Practice. In Lee, T.W. and Cullinane, K.P.B. (Eds.), World Shipping and Port Development, New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 50–75.
ISBN of the source publication: 9781137514295
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Gong, S. X. H., Firth, M., & Cullinane, K. (2016). Choice of financing and governance structures in transport industry: Theory and practice. In P. T.-W. Lee & K. Cullinane (Eds.), Dynamic shipping and port development in the globalized economy (pp. 150-177). London: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9781137514295_7