DEMAND ANALYSIS FOR ALTERNATIVE SEA TRANSPORT SERVICES: APPLICATION OF DISCRETE CHOICE MODELS TO THE AGRIFOOD EXPORTERS

This paper analyses the potential demand for sea transport services for agrifood exports to European countries. The approach of the study is based on the random utility and the application of discrete choice models to two alternative transports: land and sea. The empirical analysis takes as its reference the possibility of increasing shipping of food products from Southeast Spain to Southeast France. By estimations of Binomial and Mixed Logit, heterogeneity of preferences is determined, showing that the decision of exporters depends mainly on costs and time of transit. These estimations lead us to consider different scenarios and to analyze the sensitivity of final clients to future change in the variables which condition the choice between the two forms of transport.