Abstract

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Symmetry: Culture and Science
Volume 33, Number 4, pages 347-362 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.26830/symmetry_2022_4_347

ASYMMETRIC REFLECTION OF THE CHINESE ECONOMY ON CONTAINER FREIGHTS – AN APPLICATION USING THE LI KEQIANG INDEX

Abdullah Açık^1* Can Atacan²

¹ Department of Maritime Business Administration, Maritime Faculty, Dokuz Eylül University, 35390, Buca, İzmir, Türkiye.
Email: abdullah.acik@deu.edu.tr
ORCID: 0000-0003-4542-9831

² Department of Maritime Transportation and Management, Urla Maritime Vocational School, Ege University, 35430, Urla, İzmir, Türkiye.
Email: can.atacan@ege.edu.tr
ORCID: 0000-0002-4490-7566

^* corresponding author

Abstract: Maritime transport carries great risks for both ship and cargo owners as it shows great changes in a short time. GDP, which is an indispensable variable of the predictive models of transportation costs, is subject to criticism that it is inflated due to political concerns. The Li Keqiang index, which has been proposed in China as an alternative to this measurement tool, has not yet received sufficient attention in the literature. We examined the effect of the Chinese economy, which is considered one of the dominant countries in maritime trade, on freights of container transportation with this new indicator. The research conducted using asymmetric causality analysis showed that negative shocks on the country's economy have a decreasing effect on the container freights on the Shanghai-Rotterdam two-way routes, while positive shocks have a one-way increasing effect on the route from Shanghai to Los Angeles. Additionally, asymmetric effects from freight to the economy are determined on some routes. The results will be useful in developing proactive contract strategies for both shipowners and cargo owners.

Keywords: Asymmetric shocks, causality, Chinese economy, container transportation.

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