IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/juecon/v105y2018icp121-132.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Density economies and transport geography: Evidence from the container shipping industry

Author

Listed:
  • Xu, Hangtian
  • Itoh, Hidekazu

Abstract

By exploiting the 1995 Hanshin earthquake in western Japan as an exogenous shock to the container traffic of Northeast Asia, our study shows that economies of density in the transportation sector can influence transport geography. This earthquake caused great damage to the port of Kobe, resulting in a diversion of its container traffic to the nearby port of Busan, which increased markedly after this windfall. The strengthened economies of transport density therefore allowed Busan to expand its hinterland to regions whose container shipping operations had not even been directly affected by the earthquake, such as eastern Japan. The empirical evidence from the port choice dynamics in eastern Japan supports this mechanism. Substantial diversions of container traffic occurred after 1995 from the major ports in this region to the port of Busan. Furthermore, these unintended container shipping diversions led to a structural change in the manufacturing sector of related regions after the late 1990s.

Suggested Citation

  • Xu, Hangtian & Itoh, Hidekazu, 2018. "Density economies and transport geography: Evidence from the container shipping industry," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 121-132.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:105:y:2018:i:c:p:121-132
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2017.09.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094119017300700
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jue.2017.09.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tomoya Mori, 2012. "Increasing returns in transportation and the formation of hubs," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(4), pages 877-897, July.
    2. Stephen J. Redding & Daniel M. Sturm & Nikolaus Wolf, 2011. "History and Industry Location: Evidence from German Airports," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(3), pages 814-831, August.
    3. Takahashi, Takaaki, 2011. "Directional imbalance in transport prices and economic geography," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 92-102, January.
    4. Behrens, Kristian & Gaigne, Carl & Ottaviano, Gianmarco I.P. & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 2006. "How density economies in international transportation link the internal geography of trading partners," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 248-263, September.
    5. Jan K. Brueckner & Nichola J. Dyer & Pablo T. Spiller, 1992. "Fare Determination in Airline Hub-and-Spoke Networks," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 23(3), pages 309-333, Autumn.
    6. Donald R. Davis & David E. Weinstein, 2008. "A Search For Multiple Equilibria In Urban Industrial Structure," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 29-65, February.
    7. Braeutigam, Ronald R & Daughety, Andrew F & Turnquist, Mark A, 1982. "The Estimation of a Hybrid Cost Function for a Railroad Firm," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 64(3), pages 394-404, August.
    8. Gilles Duranton & Peter M. Morrow & Matthew A. Turner, 2014. "Roads and Trade: Evidence from the US," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(2), pages 681-724.
    9. Behrens, Kristian & Picard, Pierre M., 2011. "Transportation, freight rates, and economic geography," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 280-291.
    10. Olaf Jonkeren & Erhan Demirel & Jos van Ommeren & Piet Rietveld, 2011. "Endogenous transport prices and trade imbalances," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 509-527, May.
    11. Bosker, Maarten & Brakman, Steven & Garretsen, Harry & Schramm, Marc, 2007. "Looking for multiple equilibria when geography matters: German city growth and the WWII shock," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 152-169, January.
    12. César Ducruet & Hidekazu Itoh, 2016. "Regions and material flows: investigating the regional branching and industry relatedness of port traffics in a global perspective," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(4), pages 805-830.
    13. Donald R. Davis & David E. Weinstein, 2002. "Bones, Bombs, and Break Points: The Geography of Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1269-1289, December.
    14. Kiyoyasu Tanaka & Kenmei Tsubota, 2017. "Directional imbalance in freight rates: evidence from Japanese inter-prefectural data," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(1), pages 217-232.
    15. Mori, Tomoya & Nishikimi, Koji, 2002. "Economies of transport density and industrial agglomeration," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 167-200, March.
    16. Douglas W. Caves & Laurits R. Christensen & Michael W. Tretheway, 1984. "Economies of Density versus Economies of Scale: Why Trunk and Local Service Airline Costs Differ," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(4), pages 471-489, Winter.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Laure Rousset & César Ducruet, 2020. "Disruptions in Spatial Networks: a Comparative Study of Major Shocks Affecting Ports and Shipping Patterns," Post-Print halshs-02588551, HAL.
    2. Yao He & Yongchun Yang & Meimei Wang & Xudong Zhang, 2022. "Resilience Analysis of Container Port Shipping Network Structure: The Case of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-17, August.
    3. David Guerrero, 2020. "A global analysis of hinterlands from a European perspective. In: Global Logistics Network Modelling and Policy: Quantification and Analysis for International Freight," Post-Print hal-02551947, HAL.
    4. Ducruet, Cesar & Tsubota, Kenmei, 2018. "Regional disintegration in South Asia : evidence from the end of the British Empire on maritime networks," IDE Discussion Papers 708, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    5. Olabisi Michael Olapoju, 2023. "Appraising the impact of COVID-19 on trading volume of selected vessel types in sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Shipping and Trade, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Laure Rousset & César Ducruet, 2020. "Disruptions in Spatial Networks: a Comparative Study of Major Shocks Affecting Ports and Shipping Patterns," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 423-447, June.
    7. Guerrero, David & Letrouit, Lucie & Pais-Montes, Carlos, 2022. "The container transport system during Covid-19: An analysis through the prism of complex networks," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 113-125.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xu, Hangtian & Itoh, Hidekazu, 2016. "Density economies and transport geography: Evidence from the container shipping industry," MPRA Paper 75580, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Tsubota, Kenmei, 2015. "Agglomeration and directional imbalance of freight rates : the role of density economies in the transport sector," IDE Discussion Papers 488, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    3. Hanlon, W.Walker & Heblich, Stephan, 2022. "History and urban economics," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    4. Xu, Hangtian, 2016. "Multiple Equilibria in the Urban Spatial Structure: Evidence from the Hanshin Earthquake," MPRA Paper 75219, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Kiyoyasu Tanaka & Kenmei Tsubota, 2017. "Directional imbalance in freight rates: evidence from Japanese inter-prefectural data," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(1), pages 217-232.
    6. Maria Florencia Granato, 2011. "REGIONAL NEW ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY (refereed paper)," ERSA conference papers ersa10p747, European Regional Science Association.
    7. Seiffert, Sebastian, 2019. "Go east: On the impact of the Transiberian Railway on economic development in Eastern Russia," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 02-2019, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    8. Bosker, Maarten & Brakman, Steven & Garretsen, Harry & Schramm, Marc, 2008. "A century of shocks: The evolution of the German city size distribution 1925-1999," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 330-347, July.
    9. Stephen J. Redding, 2010. "The Empirics Of New Economic Geography," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 297-311, February.
    10. Stephen J. Redding & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2017. "Quantitative Spatial Economics," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 21-58, September.
    11. Berger, Thor & Enflo, Kerstin, 2017. "Locomotives of local growth: The short- and long-term impact of railroads in Sweden," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 124-138.
    12. Behrens, Kristian & Gaigne, Carl & Ottaviano, Gianmarco I.P. & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 2006. "How density economies in international transportation link the internal geography of trading partners," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 248-263, September.
    13. Wahl, Fabian, 2016. "Does medieval trade still matter? Historical trade centers, agglomeration and contemporary economic development," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 50-60.
    14. Thisse, Jacques-François & Ottaviano, Gianmarco & Gaigné, Carl & Behrens, Kristian, 2003. "Inter-regional and International Trade: Seventy Years After Ohlin," CEPR Discussion Papers 4065, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Felix L. Friedt & Wesley W. Wilson, 2020. "Trade, transport costs and trade imbalances: An empirical examination of international markets and backhauls," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(2), pages 592-636, May.
    16. Stephen J. Redding, 2013. "Economic Geography: A Review of the Theoretical and Empirical Literature," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Daniel Bernhofen & Rod Falvey & David Greenaway & Udo Kreickemeier (ed.), Palgrave Handbook of International Trade, chapter 16, pages 497-531, Palgrave Macmillan.
    17. Mikhailova, T., 2015. "Multiple equilibria in the Russian cities," Published Papers 010915, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
    18. Duc A. Nguyen & Steven Brakman & Harry Garretsen & Tristan Kohl, 2024. "Mean Reversion of the German City System After the WWII Bombing of Cities: What Is the Mean?," CESifo Working Paper Series 11423, CESifo.
    19. Takahashi, Takaaki, 2011. "Directional imbalance in transport prices and economic geography," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 92-102, January.
    20. Evgeniya Kolomak, 2020. "Spatial development of the post‐Soviet Russia: Tendencies and factors," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(4), pages 579-594, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Hub port; Density economies; Transportation; Northeast Asia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R40 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - General
    • L92 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Railroads and Other Surface Transportation
    • F19 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Other

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:105:y:2018:i:c:p:121-132. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622905 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.