The reasons and the policy instruments behind cabotage policies

Research performed on maritime cabotage in a worldwide context shows that 1) few countries have adopted either pure protectionist or liberalised cabotage policies while 2) most countries have favoured protectionist cabotage policies with different degrees of freedom. The same research also identified 1) a set of reasons influencing policymakers when choosing one policy in detriment of the other and 2) the corresponding policy instruments. This paper extends the research previously carried out; through an email survey questionnaire sent to researchers worldwide, it investigates, which of the listed reasons and policy instruments contribute to implementing either liberalised or protectionist cabotage policies. The outcome indicates that more than half of the respondents favour cabotage liberalisation, as opposed to the current status quo and reveals that the initial list of protectionist and liberalised reasons and policy instruments must be aggregated differently. No outstanding reasons or policy instruments, leading countries to adopt either protectionist or liberalised cabotage policies, have been identified.