Quantifying the Influence of Market Concentration on Maritime Freight Rates for Sustainable Transport: A Case Study of the Asia–North America Container Route

Abdullah Acik, Can Atacan, Oguzhan Der and Ramazan Ozkan Yildiz ()
Additional contact information
Abdullah Acik: Department of Maritime Business Administration, Maritime Faculty, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir 35390, Türkiye
Can Atacan: Maritime Transportation and Management Program, Urla Maritime Vocational School, Ege University, Izmir 35430, Türkiye
Oguzhan Der: Department of Marine Engineering, Bandirma Onyedi Eylul University, Balikesir 10200, Türkiye
Ramazan Ozkan Yildiz: Deparment of Maritime Transportation and Management Engineering, Bandirma Onyedi Eylul University, Balikesir 10200, Türkiye

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-21

Abstract: The determination of freight rates in liner shipping is influenced by the market dynamics and the strategic decisions of shipping alliances. This study investigates the effect of non-alliance tonnage on freight rates along the Asia–North America West Coast route, employing a quantile regression method. A dataset covering July 2021 to June 2023 was used, with bunker prices and the Dow Jones Index serving as control variables. The results reveal that the non-alliance share has a significant and negative impact on lower quantiles, suggesting that enhanced competition reduces freight rates when the prices are low. In contrast, this effect disappears at higher freight levels. Bunker prices and the stock market index also exhibit varying effects, depending on the quantile, with demand-side variables being more influential during low-freight conditions. These findings suggest that market concentration affects price-setting power, and quantile-based approaches offer deeper insights into these complex relationships than linear models. These insights contribute to the sustainable development of maritime transport by promoting fair competition, improving pricing transparency, and supporting efficient policy interventions in global liner shipping.

Keywords: strategic alliances; market concentration; maritime freight rates; quantile regression; liner shipping; sustainable maritime transport (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4424/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4424/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4424-:d:1654698

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().