Determinants of Port Tariffs, A Meta-Analysis Approach

Ports operations play a vital role in goods transportation, either of wet or dry, and transportation of tools and machinery. In this regard, their flawless performance has a direct impact on local markets, economic situation of an area and even the whole country.  On the other hand, continuous and effective operations of ports heavily depend on efficient maintenance plan and constant updates that all needs a proper financial capacity. In other words, the financial capacity of ports, which is influenced by the pricing policies and strategies, is the heart of the matter and affect all other ports operations. The current study aims to model all possible determinants of port tariff through a meta- analysis approach. To achieve this, 85 highly relevant literature covering the period between 2000 to 2020have been reviewed critically and subsequently their findings have been analysed via software programming of MAXQDA 2020. 46 unique influences of port services pricing have been identified and then classified based on the number of citations. Pricing goals, competitors’ tariffs and their geographical situations with 48, 47 and 41 respectively, have been found as the most cited factors. In addition, identified factors have been classified in two higher levels (criteria and principals) and a comprehensive model consists of all potential determinates is provided at the end.