| Method | Authors/studies | Objective |
| Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) | [20] | Identify factors important to container port competitiveness in China |
| [18] | Identify important factors in transshipment port selection | |
| [27] | Identify factors important to shipping lines for choice of port between Montreal and New York | |
| [23] | Identify important port selection factors for shippers in Nigeria | |
| [28] | Identifying main factors that influence hub port location choice in West Africa | |
| Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) | [29] | Identify factors affecting efficiency of Portuguese and Greek ports |
| [30] | Identify factors affecting efficiency of Korean ports | |
| [31] | Identify factors affecting efficiency of container ports | |
| [32] | Determine efficiency of ports and impact on competitiveness of short sea shipping versus road transport in Europe | |
| [33] | Determine impact of improving port infrastructure on cargo volumes in two Spanish ports | |
| [6] | Determine efficiency of six West African ports competing for regional hub status | |
| Logit Models | [34] | Identify factors influencing routing decisions through Rotterdam compared to other ports in Western Europe |
| [16] | Identify factors influencing port choice decision of shippers in china | |
| [15] | Identify factors influencing port choice decision of shippers in Taiwan | |
| [35] | Identify determinants of shipping costs to the U.S. | |
| [21] | Identify factors influencing port choice decision of shippers in the U.S. | |
| [36] | Identify factors influencing routing choice for ports in Western Europe | |
| Integer Linear Programming | [37] | Determine impact of variables affecting hub port selection by shipping lines |
| [38] | Determine impact of variables affecting hub port selection by shipping lines in East Coast South America | |
| Dynamic Programming | [39] | Determine impact of variables influencing port selection for transatlantic liner service network |
| [40] | Determine impact of variables affecting hub port selection based on optimization of cargo routing in China | |
| Transshipment cost functions | [41] | Determine impact of transshipment cost on port selection in Northern Europe |
| Transport Demand Models | [42] | Identify factors influencing port choice behavior of shippers and shipping lines in U.S.A. |
| Cluster Analysis | [43] | Identify determinants of port competitiveness for Antwerp |
| [44] | Identify factors affecting competiveness of Dutch maritime cluster | |
| Game Theory | [45] | Identify factors affecting competitiveness of supply of port services in South America |
| Oligopolistic Model | [46] | Determine impact of cost competitiveness for container ports in South East Asia. |