Directional imbalance of freight rates: evidence from Japanese inter-prefectural data

Kiyoyasu Tanaka and Kenmei Tsubota

No 441, IDE Discussion Papers from Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO)

Abstract: By analyzing a comprehensive dataset on transport transactions in Japan, we describe a directional imbalance in freight rates by transport mode and examine its potential sources, such as economies of density and directionally imbalanced transport flow. There are certain numbers of observed links which show asymmetric transport costs. Instrumental variable analysis is used to show that economies of density account for deviation from symmetric freight rates between prefectures. Our results show that a 10% increase in outbound transport flow relative to inbound transport flow leads to a 2.1% decrease in outbound freight rate relative to inbound freight rate.

Keywords: Japan; Transportation; Costs; Economic geography; Freight rates; Directional imbalance; Economies of density (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F14 L91 R41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-01-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-tre and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published in IDE Discussion Paper = IDE Discussion Paper, No. 441. 2014-01-01

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https://ir.ide.go.jp/record/37734/files/IDP000441_001.pdf First version, 2014 (application/pdf)

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Journal Article: Directional imbalance in freight rates: evidence from Japanese inter-prefectural data (2017)
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