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Liner shipping is a rather unique and idiosyncratic sector of the shipping industry. As such, it has attracted much attention from both researchers and policy makers. The purpose of this special issue of the International Journal of Maritime Economics is to investigate current thought in liner shipping economics and strategy. The papers included address what are and have been the major concerns of practitioners and academics, viz. market structure and regulation as well as vessel deployment and integration strategies. In an effort to induce research in another important direction, the aim of this paper is to address the issue of competitive advantage by considering the main themes that appear in the literature, viz. vertical integration and logistics strategy, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, cost reduction, networks, economies of scale, regulation, pricing and shipper relationships. In so doing, this Editorial emphasises the importance of the firm as the unit of analysis and concludes by drawing attention to the need for the empirical investigation of the strategy–performance relationship.INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARITIME ECONOMICS: (2002) 4, 189–209. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.ijme.9100045

The importance of mergers and acquisitions as strategies pursued towards the achievement of the organisational objectives of contemporary ocean liner carriers is evidenced by the increasing number of such activities in recent years. Despite the topicality of the issues and their practical significance, there has not been a systematic investigation of the effects that the announcement of such events might have on the stock price of the companies involved. The aim of this paper is to empirically investigate the reaction of the stock market to the announcement by listed liner shipping companies of a planned merger or acquisition. This research aim is achieved through the application of the standard market model in an event study. The methodology is well established in finance studies, but has not been applied to the shipping industry. The results obtained from a number of analytical tests provide support to the hypothesis that the announcement of a merger or acquisition has significant impact on the stock price behaviour of the liner companies involved. Managerial and research implications resulting from the study are also presented.INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARITIME ECONOMICS: (2002) 4, 55–80 DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.ijme.9100030

The idiosyncratic characteristics of the shipping industry render the prudent appraisal of shipping investments imperative. Despite this, the shipping finance literature seems to have placed greater emphasis on the issues of credit analysis and raising funds for shipping investments as opposed to shipping investment appraisal and fund allocation. Having recognised this gap, this study aims to make a contribution in this respect through a qualitative empirical investigation. Data were collected through a mail survey of UK-based ship operators. The analysis of the results revealed the practices of the UK-based ship operators surveyed as to the popularity of the various quantitative techniques, the practices as to risk assessment and modelling and the qualitative factors influencing investment appraisal and decision making. It was also revealed, however, that capital budgeting does not seem to form part of a strategic planning and control system. Inferences as to future research and managerial implications are discussed.