Transport Logistics and Modal Split of Spanish Exports to Europe : Empirical Evidence

This article attempts to find the determinants of mode choice decisions for Spanish shipments to Europe and North Africa in four productive sectors that presents differentiated transport logistics. To this end, exhaustive fieldwork was carried out and a database constructed, including 1251 observations collected from transport decision-makers. A mixed logit is used to estimate a modal choice model, consistent with economic theory of modal choice in a price-time reliability framework. The main findings are that quality attributes of service influence modal choice only for the relatively high-value sectors whereas relatively low-value sectors are mainly affected by transport costs. In terms of implementing policies to transfer cargo from road transport to short-sea shipping (SSS), the estimated elasticities show that larger modal shifts would be achieved by levying a tax to internalise external costs generated by road transport and strictly enforcing existing regulation on circulation times other than subsidising maritime transport