Cluster Approach in Organization of Transportation in the Baltic Sea Region

Abstract

The urgency of the issues discussed in this paper stems from the fact that cross-border collaboration is an essential part of commercial transportation today. With the extension of multimodal transportation concept, the efficiency and performance of not only national but also of regional transport systems depend on a synergy which occurs as a result of cooperation between transport enterprises and different modes of transport. The present study analyses the situation of transportation field in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) in the period 2004–2011. The methodology used is based on Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA), correlation analysis, Bayesian analysis and affinity analysis, which help to identify countries with similar trends in the field of transportation and the common reasons and factors which have led to the emergence of these clusters.

The Baltic Sea Macro-Regional Transport Cluster as an Element of the Silk Road Economic Belt

“…In accordance with the model of a single formal transport macro-regional cluster, homogeneity within its members (countries) must be provided. Previous analysis by Nežerenko, Koppel and Tuisk (2017) confirms the presence of heterogeneity in different transport sectors. However, sea transport tends to be a strong macro-regional cluster of informal maritime transport, due to numerous projects realized by business stockholders under the umbrella of the EUSBSR, launched by Sweden in 2009.…”

“…This cyclicity correlates with economic growth cycles measured by the gross domestic product. In the recent research of Nežerenko, Koppel and Tuisk (2017), this issue was specified and strong correlation was found between the GDP of the BSR and investments into road and rail infrastructures, as well as between imports and investments into rail and road infrastructure.…”

“…After a few iterations, the algorithm reaches the final cluster structure (macro-cluster/BSR). Thus, the goal of the clustering algorithm is to join objects together into successively larger clusters, using some measure of similarity or distance (Burns and Burns 2008;Nežerenko, Koppel and Tuisk 2017). The results of the analysis are presented by a hierarchical tree diagram, called a dendrogram.…”

“…The authors of the study suggest that the Chinese initiative can offer an impulse to the creation of formal macro-regional inter-cooperation, which would promote the development of the transport sector, revitalizing economic growth in the region. Due to involvement of governmental stakeholders in the process of international business cooperation, the scale of benefits expands, increasing its competitiveness in certain sectors on the global level (Nežerenko and Koppel 2015;Nežerenko, Koppel and Tuisk 2017).…”

Multi-Criteria Evaluation of Railway Network Performance in Countries of the TEN-T Orient–East Med Corridor

“…The Hierarchical Cluster Analysis has been applied to investigate transport and logistics in the countries of the Baltic Sea Region [26,27]. The authors have analyzed cargo volume by railway, maritime, and road transport between 2004 and 2011 [27].…”