first, the efforts to increase the amount of O/D cargo is should be the primary concern of the port authorities. second, it is quite dubious whether the reduction in various port charges can induce sufficient amount of transshipment cargo. Third, heavy investment to relieve port congestion may not be a wise policy, at least in the short run.
In this thesis, an empirical study is conducted to determine what factors affect the choice of transshipment port by the shippers. To establish this, we construct a theoretical model in which port choice behavior of the shippers is elaborated. From the model, we extract the theoretical determinants of the shippers' port choice. A regression model is set up to test the statistical significance of our theoretical model. The amount of O/D cargo turns out to be a main factor in determining that of transshipment cargo for the ports under our investigation. Surprising enough, the total cost(monetary cost as well as time cost) borne by the port users is found to be insignificant. Especially time cost shares a high collinearity with the amount of O/D cargo. Policy implications for the ports, port of Busan, in particular, are the followings