There is a wide variety of institutional and managerial assets among ports. They are the result of several environmental factors and global structural transformations still in progress in the world economy. Economic globalization, the growth of international trade, the liberalization of capital flows, the advances in information technology, have modified port evolution according to new infrastructure and managerial requirements which emerge from the market. The aim of this paper s to focus attention on the institutional and managerial assets, examining governance structures which enable ports to be more competitive and reactive to market changes. It will investigate the complex and shifting boundaries between the public and private involvement in the port industry.
