Transport-mode competition in intra-national trade: An empirical investigation for the Spanish case C. Llano ⇑ , T. De la Mata, J. Díaz-Lanchas, N. Gallego Departamento de Análisis Económico: Teoría Económica e Historia Económica, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Campus Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain L.R. Klein Institute, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain article info Article history: Received 27 October 2016 Accepted 28 October 2016 Available online 11 December 2016 JEL classfication: F14 R40 C21 Keywords: Inter-provincial trade Transport-mode competition Multimodality Logistics Distance Spatial econometrics abstract Trade within and between countries can take place by alternative transport modes. Economic and logistical complexity is fostering multimodality as well as transport-mode competition. The international trade literature has given little attention to this issue. The aim of this paper is to analyze transport-mode competition in inter-provincial deliveries within Spain. To this end, we use a detailed dataset with fifty inter-provincial, industry- specific flows by four transport modes (road, train, ship and aircraft). We then feed this dataset into various specifications of a gravity model that incorporates cross-sectional dependence attributable to unobservable factors directly associated with the presence of transport-mode competition schemes. In considering alternative distance segments, we also test for competition effects between road and the other three modes. Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Trade within and between countries can take place by alternative transport modes. Economic and logistical complexity is fostering multimodality as well as transport-mode competition (Rodrigue, 2003; Hesse and Rodrigue, 2004; Rodrigue and Notteboom, 2010). According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), from 1990 to 2013 the world’s international exports of goods increased about 8% annually. Most international trade had taken place by sea (89.8% in 2008), and to a lesser extent by land (road and, more rarely, train, with a total of about 9.96%). Ships are simply the most efficient mode for long distances, while road is the most convenient for door-to-ship/ship-to-door hauls and for distribution between and within countries. But when we look at trade within countries the pattern changes drastically. In Spanish interregional trade, for example, road is the transport mode with the greatest share, representing on average approximately 83% of trade value in 2005–2009, with ships representing around 19% and trains 3% for the same period. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2016.10.023 0965-8564/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: carlos.llano@uam.es (C. Llano), tamara.delamata@uam.es (T. De la Mata), jorge.diaz@uam.es (J. Díaz-Lanchas), nuria.gallego@uam.es (N. Gallego). Transportation Research Part A 95 (2017) 334–355 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Transportation Research Part A journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tra