Hierarchical Flow Among Four Shipping Markets: An Integrated Approach for Capesize Shipping Markets

Abstract

Although there are theoretical researches on the interactions between four shipping submarkets, empirical studies examining four to cover are rare. Also, market interactions may differ in positive or negative environments. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to examine the hierarchical structure among the 4 sub-maritime markets by providing a methodological proposition. This study integrates the Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) method with the asymmetric causality analysis and examines the hierarchical structure between the four markets in terms of positive and negative shocks through the Capesize markets. The dataset used in the study covers the period between 07.01.2013 -18.07.2019 and consists of 342 weekly observations. The results show that the hierarchical flow of positive and negative shocks differs in the Capesize market. In terms of positive shocks, the demolition market stands out as the starting point of the shocks, while in terms of negative shocks, freight and new building markets come to the fore. Our study reveals hierarchical structures for maritime markets by testing their relationships empirically and contributes to the maritime literature where the freight market is theoretically considered a pioneer. A new methodical perspective is thought to be presented to the maritime economics literature.