I Martínez-Zarzoso (Institute of International Economics and Department of Economics, University Jaume I, Spain) L García-Menéndez () (Institute of International Economics and Department of Economics, University of Valencia, Spain.) C Suárez-Burguet (Institute of International Economics and Department of Economics, University Jaume I, Spain)
Additional information is available for the following
registered author(s):
This paper aims to investigate the determinants of maritime and overland transport costs and the role they play in deterring trade across countries. We estimate a transport cost function using data on maritime and overland transport of the ceramic sector (tiles) obtained from interviews held with Spanish logistics operators. We also study the relationship between transport costs and trade and estimate an import demand model for ceramic products. Additionally, we present a discussion on the sensitivity of trade flows and transportation costs to the existence of back-hauling, special conditions for transport and number of reloads.1 The study of modal transport (overland versus maritime) and its differential characteristics are of relevant interest for maritime economists and should be taken into account in economic policy-making. Furthermore, the proven impact of infrastructure on transport costs and trade points towards the importance of investing in new port infrastructures as a way of fostering trade and income. Our results from the transport cost estimation show that higher distance and poor partner infrastructure lead to a notable increase in transport costs. Inclusion of infrastructure measures improves the fit of the regression, thus corroborating the importance of infrastructure in determining transport costs. The distance coefficient remains significant and with similar magnitude when we add infrastructure variables. Our results from the trade equation estimation show that importer income, as expected, has a positive influence in bilateral trade flows. Higher transport costs significantly deter trade, and distance does not appear to be a good proxy for transport costs in the ceramics sector. Maritime Economics & Logistics (2003) 5, 179–198. doi:10.1057/palgrave.mel.9100069
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Elizabeth Gale).
Related research
Keywords:
Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)
Did you know? You can include your works in the database easily by uploading them on the Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA) if you do not have access to an institutional RePEc archive.