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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Jordi Perdiguero (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Juan Luis Jiménez (Department of Applied Economic Analysis. University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) |
| Abstract: | The upward trend in fuel prices and the desire to reduce pollution levels mean that the electric vehicle has become an increasingly attractive alternative in recent years. The aim of this study is to examine the main barriers that the electric vehicle must overcome if it is to become a successful mode of transport and to review the main public policies that governments might implement to help in overcoming these obstacles. Public policies have been directed at four basic features of the electric vehicle: the charging network; increasing demand for these vehicles; industrialization and research and development programs; and the introduction of electric vehicles in programs of sustainable mobility. This article describes the public policies that have been implemented around the world to overcome the barriers to the adoption of electric vehicle so that it might become the vehicle of the future. |
| Keywords: | Electric vehicle; public policies; recharge system. JEL classification: H23; P28; Q42. |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201208&r=tre |
| By: | Albarrán, Pedro; Carrasco, Raquel; Holl, Adelheid |
| Abstract: | Investment in transport infrastructure reduces the cost of distance and enables firms to establish contacts over larger distances. Using data from a panel of Spanish manufacturing firms and geographic information system techniques, this article studies the impact of domestic transport cost reductions on firms’ export market participation, taking into account the role of entry costs and other firm characteristics. We estimate dynamic probability models, controlling for the unobserved heterogeneity of firms and for the simultaneity of firms’ export and location decisions. Our results demonstrate a positive effect of domestic transport infrastructure improvements on small and medium-sized firms’ probability of exporting |
| Keywords: | Export decisions; Road transport infrastructure; Accessibility; Dynamic panel data; Geographic information systems; |
| JEL: | F14 R1 R4 L26 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:carlos:info:hdl:10016/13899&r=tre |
| By: | Scott, K. Rebecca |
| Abstract: | eeeeee |
| Keywords: | Natural Resources and Conservation, Economics, gasoline demand, rational habits, price elasticity |
| Date: | 2011–07–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:agrebk:qt2q87432b&r=tre |
| By: | F. Tedeschi; A. Reggiani; P. Nijkamp |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to investigate the relationship between commuting and spatial labour market developments in the framework of sustainability issues. To do so, we propose, first, an exploratory investigation of the effects of inbound commuter flows on employment in regional labour markets in Germany. Next, we address sustainability issues as a common umbrella for the relationship ‘economy-transportation’. In this context, we show that the German production system is faced with negative environmental externalities, which are clearly associated with a specific transport mode, viz. the private car. Negative environmental externalities as a result of modal choices in Germany are confirmed by data from EU-15 countries. Public transport, in particular the train, appears to be more environmentally-benign. Our results bring to light that, on average, commuter flows have a positive and robust effect on employment in the receiving German labour market districts, while, for commuting flows, public transport, especially the train, is a more environmentally-benign mode of transport, compared with the car, in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. In the light of possible policy strategies, the paper argues that sustainability may lead to positive economic effects; in particular, the improvement of the public transport system, which can provide more opportunities for sustainable commuting patterns, may lead to favourable employment perspectives for the local or regional labour force. |
| JEL: | R41 R23 J61 |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp819&r=tre |
| By: | Gaigne, Carl; Riou, Stephane; Thisse, Jacques-Francois |
| Abstract: | There is a wide consensus among international institutions and national governments in favor of compact (i.e. densely populated) cities as a way to improve the ecological performance of the transport system. Indeed, when both the intercity and intra-urban distributions of activities are given, a higher population density makes cities more environmentally friendly as the average commuting length is reduced. However, when we account for the possible relocation of activities within and between cities in response to a higher population density, the latter may cease to hold. Because changes in population density affect land rents and wages, firms and workers re-optimize and choose new locations. We show that this may reshape the urban system in a way that generates both a higher level of pollution and welfare losses. As cities become more compact, agglomeration occurs and, eventually, the secondary business centers vanish. By increasing the average commuting length, these changes in the size and structure of cities may be detrimental to both the ecological and welfare objectives even if intercity trade flows decrease. This means that compact is not always desirable, and thus an increasing-density policy should be supplemented with instruments that impact the intra- and inter-urban distributions of activities. We argue that a policy promoting the creation of secondary business centers can raise welfare and decrease emissions. |
| Keywords: | Greenhouse gas, commuting costs, transport costs, cities, Environmental Economics and Policy, D61, F12, Q54, Q58, R12, |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ulavwp:121692&r=tre |
| By: | Trevor Tombe (Wilfrid Laurier University) |
| Abstract: | Regional income inequality within countries is an important contributor to global inequality. I investigate its relationship to economic growth using the US experience since 1880. I modify a multi-sector general equilibrium growth model and highlight two important forces: (1) structural change, which disproportionately benefit poor agricultural regions; and (2) transport cost reductions, which shrinks regional price and wage differences. Structural change contributes to Southern growth but is offset in the Midwest by transport cost reductions. The Midwest case is of greater relevance for developing countries with high transport costs, and suggests growth may not significantly reduce global income inequality. |
| Keywords: | Regional Convergence, Dual-Economy Models, Transportation Costs |
| JEL: | O11 R11 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wlu:wpaper:tt0061&r=tre |
| By: | KONISHI Yoko; Se-il MUN; NISHIYAMA Yoshihiko; Ji Eun SUNG |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a microeconomic model of inter-regional freight transportation based on careful formulation of the cost structure in trucking firms and market equilibrium, which takes into account the feature of transport service as a bundle of multiple characteristics. We estimate the parameters of the model using the micro-data of inter-regional freight flows from the 2005 Net Freight Flow Census in Japan. Estimation results show that the determinants of transport cost incorporated in the model have significant effects in the ways that the model predicts. The degree of competition also has significant effect on freight charge. It is shown that there exist significant scale economies with respect to lot size and long-haul economies. Quantitative extents of these effects are also demonstrated. |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:12016&r=tre |
| By: | Adriaan Perrels; Tarja Tuovinen |
| Abstract: | The study concerns an assessment of the effectiveness of car purchase tax differentiation according to the CO2-emission performance of newly sold cars as implemented in Finland. This policy instrument came into force as of 1 January 2008. The effectiveness of the instrument is assessed by means of decomposition of car sales by key features of cars and by estimation of impact relations between changes in the emission performance of newly sold cars and various explanatory variables, including the imputed tax differentiation based price differences |
| Keywords: | fuel efficiency, policy effectiveness, automobile tax reform, transport emissions |
| JEL: | Q48 H31 R48 H23 |
| Date: | 2012–03–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fer:resrep:168&r=tre |
| By: | K. Rebecca Scott |
| Abstract: | When consumers are forward-looking with respect to their demand for a habit-forming good, traditional measures of price elasticity are misleading. In particular, such measures will underestimate sensitivity to long-run shifts - and therefore underestimate the potential effect of policy instruments that act through price. Correcting elasticities for the behavior of the price process requires a model with forward-looking consumers, a habit-forming good, and uncertain relative prices. With appropriate restrictions on the type of price uncertainty, this paper shows that it is possible to solve for the optimal consumption path under any price process. Simulations then sketch out how habits and the price process shape demand. Gasoline demand motivates the model and illustrates its implications. |
| Keywords: | Gasoline demand, Rational habits, Price elasticity |
| JEL: | H30 Q40 Q41 Q50 R40 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:596&r=tre |
| By: | Scott, K. Rebecca (University of California, Berkeley. Dept of agricultural and resource economics) |
| Abstract: | The combination of habits and a forward outlook suggests that consumers will be sensitive not just to prices but to price dynamics. In particular, rational habits models suggest 1. that price volatility and uncertainty will reduce demand for a habit-forming good and 2. that such volatility will dampen demand?s responsiveness to price. These two implications can be tested by augmenting a traditional partial-adjustment or error-correction model of demand. I apply this augmented model to data on gasoline consumption, as rational habits provide a succinct representation for the investment and behavioral decisions that determine gasoline usage. The trade-o¤s among 2SLS, system GMM, and pooled mean group (PMG) estimators are considered, and my preferred PMG estimator provides evidence for the two implications of rational habits in a panel of 29 countries for the years 1990-2009. The sensitivity of certain results to the choice of estimator o¤ers a cautionary illustration of the cost of assumptions such as coe¢ cient heterogeneity. Given the evidence uncovered in favor of rational gasoline habits, such habits may help to explain some of the cross-country variation in "total" price elasticity. These habits also imply that the e¤ect of price volatility must be taken into account when projecting the impacts of potential policies on gasoline consumption. |
| Keywords: | gasoline demand, rational habits, price elasticity |
| JEL: | H30 Q40 Q41 Q50 R40 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:are:cudare:1122&r=tre |
| By: | Saskia VAN DER LOO; Stef PROOST |
| Abstract: | A federal government tries to force local governments to implement welfare optimal tolling and investment. Welfare optimal tolling requires charging for marginal external costs. Local governments have an incentive to charge more than the marginal social cost whenever there is transit traffic. We analyse the pricing and investment issue in an asymmetric information setting where the local governments have better information than the federal government. The case of air pollution and of congestion are discussed. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:ceswps:ces11.19&r=tre |
| By: | Reihaneh Montazeri Shatouri Author_Email: (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia); Wan Khairuzzaman Wan Ismail (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia) |
| Keywords: | Green technology, Volkswagen, BlueMotion, Innovation. |
| JEL: | M0 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cms:1icm11:2011-096-058&r=tre |
| By: | Laura GRIGOLON; Frank VERBOVEN |
| Abstract: | We start from an aggregate random coefficients nested logit (RCNL) model to provide a systematic comparison between the tractable logit and nested logit (NL) models with the computationally more complex random coefficients logit (RC) model. We first use simulated data to assess possible parameter biases when the true model is a RCNL model. We then use data on the automobile market to estimate the different models, and as an illustration assess what they imply for competition policy analysis. As expected, the simple logit model is rejected against the NL and RC model, but both of these models are in turn rejected against the more general RCNL model. While the NL and RC models result in quite different substitution patterns, they give robust policy conclusions on the predicted price effects from mergers. In contrast, the conclusions for market definition are not robust across different demand models. In general, our findings suggest that it is important to account for sources of market segmentation that are not captured by continuous characteristics in the RC model. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:ceswps:ces11.24&r=tre |