As an efficient bridge linking the mainland and overseas, dry ports can not only revitalize the regional economy but also promote the growth of seaport throughput. However, the construction of dry ports is a long-cycle and high-consumption project, and it is necessary to coordinate the interests of all parties at the early stage of construction and fully consider the impact of the completed dry port on the seaport and the local economy. Therefore, this paper considers two Port Operators A and B, and Port Operator A decided to invest in dry port to upgrade and expand. We investigate under what conditions Port Operator A should establish what scale of dry port in the face of the increasingly complex competitive environment and shippers' port selection behavior. For that, we take two seaports as a kind of network product, and analyze the necessity and feasibility conditions for Port Operators to invest in the construction of dry ports by applying the economic theory of network effect on the basis of the improved Hotelling model. The results show that even if the network effect is low, if the shippers bear a low unit transportation cost, the construction of dry ports can not only help Port Operator A to enhance competitiveness but also promote the development of Social Welfare. If the network effect intensity is high, Port Operator A can realize rapid expansion by taking advantage of the high service quality of dry ports, but the scale of dry port should be controlled within a certain range.

中文翻译：

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区域竞争环境下具有网络效应的无水港投资模式


无水港作为连接内地与海外的高效桥梁，不但能振兴区域经济，更能促进海港吞吐量的增长。但无水港建设是一项长周期、高消耗的项目，需要在建设初期协调各方利益，充分考虑建成的无水港对海港和当地经济的影响。因此，本文考虑了两个港口运营商 A 和 B，港口运营商 A 决定投资无水港进行升级和扩建。我们研究了港口运营商 A 在面对日益复杂的竞争环境和托运人的港口选择行为时，应在什么条件下确定无水港的规模。为此，本文以两个海港为一类网络产品，在改进的 Hotelling 模型的基础上，应用网络效应经济学理论，分析港口运营商投资建设无水港的必要性和可行性条件。结果表明，即使网络效应较低，如果托运人承担较低的单位运输成本，无水港的建设不仅可以帮助港口运营商 A 提升竞争力，还可以促进社会福利的发展。如果网络效应强度较高，港口运营商 A 可以利用无水港的高服务质量实现快速扩张，但无水港的规模应控制在一定范围内。