In this study, we empirically investigate the impacts of urban road congestion and road capacity expansion on the competition between major container ports in the US. We find that more delays on urban roads may cause shippers to switch to competing rival ports: a 1% increase in road congestion delays around the port is associated with a 0.90–2.48% decrease in the port’s container throughput…
More than a century ago far-sighted railroad builders and steamship operators were seeking the shortest intermodal itineraries between the eastern United States and the Orient. A combination of locational fact and the factual outcomes of 19thcentury railroad building left Chicago roughly equidistant in railway mileage from what became the four great us West-Coast port complexes in the Los Angel…
This paper analyzes the incentives for and welfare implications of collaboration among lo- cal governments in landside port accessibility investment. In particular, we consider two seaports with their respective captive markets and a common inland market for which the ports compete. The ports and the inland belong to three independent regional gov- ernments, each making investment decisions on …
This paper analyzes the effects of integration between two neighbor ports with a third port sharing the same overlapping hinterland. The merger (integrated port) can select either the price discrimination or uniform pricing strategy after integration. Our study reveals that port integration is always beneficial to the merger and the third port, but results in the reduction of consumer surplus…
Container ports provide the primary interface where physical exchange between buyers and sellers of containerised shipping capacity can be consolidated and realised. Consequently, ports that are able to complement and add value to the objectives of shipping lines and shippers will become focal points for containerised cargo flows. To evaluate container port competition, the authors propose a pr…
The purpose of this paper is to study container port competition for transshipment cargo in duopoly market. We develop the linear container handling demand function which incorporates transshipment traffic, and apply a non-cooperative two-stage game to a vertical-structure seaport market with ports as upstream players and shipping lines as downstream players. The drivers behind port competition…
In the maritime transport industry, a terminal concessi on often specifies the competition conditions during the concession period. This study proposes a game model with which the effects of competition for seaport terminal awards can be studied. The modeling results suggest that (a) a terminal operator always prefers to control more terminals in the region; (b) i fall terminal operators expa…
The period from 2007 through 2016 saw little change in the fundamentals of port governance in the United States. Instead, increased competition resulting from the consolidation of the ocean carrier industry, a slower forecast for U.S. container trade growth, port congestion on the U.S.West Coast and the potential for shifting trading lanes from an expanded Panama Canal became the predominant fo…
This paper explores the criteria shippers employ in the port selection process. By focusing on the containerized traffic between the North American Mid-West and Western Europe, the factors considered by exporters and freight forwarders are examined. The findings suggest that decision-makers are influenced more by price and service considerations of land and ocean carriers than by perceived diff…
This paper deals with port competition and port selection for cargo to/from Austria. Austria is located centrally in Europe and seaports in at least five countries are used for imports and exports. Changes of market shares over time of different ports serving Austria are analysed. Switching of cargo between ports does take place, but friction prevents instantaneous switching. Consequently, it t…
The growth in intermodal transport has led to an increase in competition between ports. Other factors, such as the globalisation of the economy, European Union interest in integrating the port system into the Transeuropean Transport Network and the reform of the Spanish port system, have encouraged the Spanish Port Authorities to develop competitive strategies to extend their hinterlands These …
Fierce inter-port competition requires to strategically consider the roles port size and incentives play in a port user’s port selection. This paper contributes to literature by developing a simple game-theoretic model to address this particular issue. We demonstrate that once port is selected the port size and the administered incentive level positively influences the level of port user’s …
Ports have always played a vital role in international transportation. Port selection decision is a process that requires consideration of many important and relevant criteria. The selection of the influential decision-making criteria is also a significant and vital issue which demands cautious thoughts. The main objective of this paper is to weigh the most dominant decision-making criteria by …
The worldwide network of container transport services, both on land and at sea, is becoming increasingly fine-meshed. The growth in the number of intermodal transfer points on the land side, at the sea–land interface in the seaports and at the connecting points of liner services in transhipment ports leads to an increasing number of routing options for a container flow between two regions som…