IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/tvecsg/v105y2014i4p483-491.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rotterdam and Amsterdam as Trading Places? In Search of the Economic-Geographical Nexus between Global Commodity Chains and World Cities

Author

Listed:
  • Wouter Jacobs

Abstract

This Windows on the Netherlands addresses the economic geography of commodity trade by providing insights from two Dutch port cities: Rotterdam and Amsterdam. It is argued that commodity traders provide an empirical site for uncovering the missing links between research on world cities on the one hand, and global commodity chains on the other. Commodity trading is compelling as it is linked both with the financial sector (financing and paper trade) and with the production and distribution of commodities (storage and transportation). However, these two activities do not necessarily need to be in geographical proximity. Rotterdam and Amsterdam handle large volumes of commodities flowing through their ports, but the trading desks of the large commodity houses handle the trade transactions. There is a strong presence of the world's largest commodity traders in the Netherlands, which include not only the port-based physical-operational functions but also the trading desks, treasuries and holding companies. The paper concludes with an overview of avenues for further research.

Suggested Citation

  • Wouter Jacobs, 2014. "Rotterdam and Amsterdam as Trading Places? In Search of the Economic-Geographical Nexus between Global Commodity Chains and World Cities," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 105(4), pages 483-491, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:tvecsg:v:105:y:2014:i:4:p:483-491
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/tesg.12107
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martijn J. Burger & Evert J. Meijers & Frank G. Oort, 2014. "Multiple Perspectives on Functional Coherence: Heterogeneity and Multiplexity in the Randstad," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 105(4), pages 444-464, September.
    2. Neil M. Coe, 2014. "Missing links: Logistics, governance and upgrading in a shifting global economy," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 224-256, February.
    3. Fujita,Masahisa & Thisse,Jacques-François, 2013. "Economics of Agglomeration," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107001411.
    4. Smith, Woodruff D., 1984. "The Function of Commercial Centers in the Modernization of European Capitalism: Amsterdam as an Information Exchange in the Seventeenth Century," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(4), pages 985-1005, December.
    5. Fujita, Masahisa & Mori, Tomoya, 1996. "The role of ports in the making of major cities: Self-agglomeration and hub-effect," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 93-120, April.
    6. Ben Derudder & Peter Taylor & Pengfei Ni & Anneleen De Vos & Michael Hoyler & Heidi Hanssens & David Bassens & Jin Huang & Frank Witlox & Wei Shen & Xiaolan Yang, 2010. "Pathways of Change: Shifting Connectivities in the World City Network, 2000—08," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(9), pages 1861-1877, August.
    7. Wouter Jacobs & Hans Koster & Peter Hall, 2011. "The Location and Global Network Structure of Maritime Advanced Producer Services," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(13), pages 2749-2769, October.
    8. John Friedmann, 1986. "The World City Hypothesis," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 17(1), pages 69-83, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sébastien Antoine & Cécile Sillig & Hilda Ghiara, 2017. "Advanced Logistics in Italy: A City Network Analysis," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 108(6), pages 753-767, December.
    2. Bürgi Bonanomi, Elisabeth & Elsig, Manfred & Espa, Ilaria, 2015. "The Commodity Sector and Related Governance Challenges from a Sustainable Development Perspective: The Example of Switzerland Current Research Gaps," Papers 865, World Trade Institute.
    3. Ben Derudder & Christof Parnreiter, 2014. "Introduction: The Interlocking Network Model for Studying Urban Networks: Outline, Potential, Critiques, and Ways Forward," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 105(4), pages 373-386, September.
    4. Christof Parnreiter, 2019. "Global cities and the geographical transfer of value," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(1), pages 81-96, January.
    5. Parnreiter Christof, 2017. "Global Cities, globale Wertschöpfungsketten und wirtschaftliche Governance: konzeptionelle Überlegungen und eine Untersuchung der Rolle Mexico Citys," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 61(2), pages 65-79, September.
    6. Tom A. Daamen & Erik Louw, 2016. "The Challenge of the Dutch Port-City Interface," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 107(5), pages 642-651, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. César Ducruet & Sylvain Cuyala & Ali El Hosni, 2018. "Maritime networks as systems of cities: The long-term interdependencies between global shipping flows and urban development (1890–2010)," Post-Print halshs-01676756, HAL.
    2. Zhao, Qianyu & Xu, Hang & Wall, Ronald S & Stavropoulos, Spyridon, 2017. "Building a bridge between port and city: Improving the urban competitiveness of port cities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 120-133.
    3. Christof Parnreiter, 2014. "Network or Hierarchical Relations? A Plea for Redirecting Attention to the Control Functions of Global Cities," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 105(4), pages 398-411, September.
    4. Xingjian Liu & Ben Derudder & Frank Witlox & Michael Hoyler, 2014. "Cities As Networks within Networks of Cities: The Evolution of the City/Firm-Duality in the World City Network, 2000–2010," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 105(4), pages 465-482, September.
    5. Bottasso, Anna & Conti, Maurizio & Ferrari, Claudio & Merk, Olaf & Tei, Alessio, 2013. "The impact of port throughput on local employment: Evidence from a panel of European regions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 32-38.
    6. Wouter Jacobs & Hans Koster & Peter Hall, 2011. "The Location and Global Network Structure of Maritime Advanced Producer Services," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(13), pages 2749-2769, October.
    7. Young-Joon Seo & Jin Suk Park, 2018. "The role of seaports in regional employment: evidence from South Korea," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(1), pages 80-92, January.
    8. César Ducruet & Hidekazu Itoh & Olivier Joly, 2015. "Ports and the local embedding of commodity flows," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(3), pages 607-627, August.
    9. César Ducruet & Hidekazu Itoh, 2016. "Regions and material flows: investigating the regional branching and industry relatedness of port traffics in a global perspective," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(4), pages 805-830.
    10. Christof Parnreiter, 2019. "Global cities and the geographical transfer of value," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(1), pages 81-96, January.
    11. Ducruet, César & Cuyala, Sylvain & El Hosni, Ali, 2018. "Maritime networks as systems of cities: The long-term interdependencies between global shipping flows and urban development (1890–2010)," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 340-355.
    12. Koji Nishikimi & Ikuo Kuroiwa, 2011. "Analytical Framework for East Asian Integration (2): Evolution of Industrial Location and Regional Disparity," Chapters, in: Masahisa Fujita & Ikuo Kuroiwa & Satoru Kumagai (ed.), The Economics of East Asian Integration, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Lesley Welman & Sanette LA Ferreira, 2016. "The co-evolution of Saldanha Bay (town and hinterland) and its Port," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 31(1-2), pages 219-233, February.
    14. Edward L. Glaeser, 1998. "Are Cities Dying?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 139-160, Spring.
    15. Nuria Gallego & Carlos Llano, 2014. "The Border Effect and the Nonlinear Relationship between Trade and Distance," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 1016-1048, November.
    16. Behrens, Kristian, 2007. "On the location and lock-in of cities: Geography vs transportation technology," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 22-45, January.
    17. G Ottaviano & Diego Puga, 1997. "Agglomeration in a global Economy: A Survey," CEP Discussion Papers dp0356, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    18. Peter Wostner, 2003. "Regional Disparities in Transition Economies: the case of Slovenia," SCIENZE REGIONALI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2003(1).
    19. Thomas Gries & Wim Naudé & Marianne Matthee, 2009. "The Optimal Distance To Port For Exporting Firms," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 513-528, August.
    20. Aurélie Lalanne & Martin Zumpe, 2020. "Time-Series Based Empirical Assessment of Random Urban Growth: New Evidence from France," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 18(4), pages 911-926, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:tvecsg:v:105:y:2014:i:4:p:483-491. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0040-747X .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.