Does multimarket contact lead to mutual forbearance? The influence of the coopetition network of maritime and port companies

We investigate how multimarket contact (MMC), as well as two contingency factors, namely, cooperation and competition networks, affects the competitive aggressiveness of a focal firm. A sample of the top 21 maritime and port multinational enterprises was examined by collecting 1,506 news items from 3,502 news articles of the Cyber Shipping Guide from 2007 to 2009. The empirical findings show that: 1) a higher MMC between a focal firm and its competitors results in a higher competitive aggressiveness of the focal firm; 2) a higher degree of centrality of cooperation and inward centrality of competition moderate the relationship between MMC and the competitive aggressiveness of the focal firm; 3) a greater competitive aggressiveness results in better performance. This study integrates competition and cooperation among firms, provides the method by which firms adjust their strategies, and brings new insights into such a coopetition industry, that is, the maritime and port industry.