MARGINAL COST PRICING IN SEA PORTS: HOW TO MODEL AND ASSESS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PORTS?

The research was conducted in the frame of the European GRACE project 1 , where similar analyses were conducted and comparable hypotheses were posted for air transport and inland navigation. The case-study assessment allows quantifying the impact of different port settings on actual social marginal cost levels. It is shown what different characteristics make up for a different marginal cost composition. The results are useful from a policy as well as from an operational perspective. From a policy point of view, insight into the real marginal cost levels should lead to more tariff transparency. From an operational perspective, insight into marginal costs should enable operators to take decisions that reach closer to the optimum. In section 1, it is indicated for what part of the maritime transport chain marginal costs should be calculated in a port case study, and how costs can be broken