Modelando o processo de seleção dos portos para movimentação das cargas no comércio exterior Brasileiro

In this paper, we present some models to analyze the impacts of surface transportation logistic costs on importers and exporters decisions on which ports to choose for foreign trade operations. We employed a technique based on fractional split distributions, in which the dependent variable corresponds to the share of cargo across the available ports for imports and exports. The geographic observational unit used was the microrregion (Brazil is divided in more than five hundred microrregions). Parameter estimation is done by maximum quasi-likelihood, based on foreign trade data. The results confirmed conclusions from other studies in the literature: the geographic factors and internal transportation costs are very important for importers and exporters decisions. Based on the estimated models, we simulate potential impacts of different scenarios for changes in internal transportation costs on the inter port competition in Brazil.