The equilibria of port investment in a multi-port region in China

The port investment equilibria in a multi-port region in China are analysed. We present two models corresponding to two scenarios: port competition when port companies invest in port capacity for profit and port competition when port cities invest in port capacity for local GDP. It is verified that the profit-oriented investment in a multi-port region may reach Nash equilibrium, while the GDP-oriented investment cannot reach Nash equilibrium. The results of the case study show that the GDP-oriented investment is much greater than the profit-oriented investment. When the investment capacities of port cities are approximately the same, all port cities will actively invest in their ports, and a city's higher average investment return may decrease its willingness to invest in its ports.