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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Russo, Antonio |
| Abstract: | We study optimal pricing and provision of transportation infrastructure (roads and public transport) in presence of nonlinear income taxes. Individuals are heterogeneous in unobservable earning ability. Each working day requires a commuting trip and daily work hours have diminishing returns. We study both linear and nonlinear transport tariffs. In spite of individuals having separable preferences for goods and leisure, pricing and provision of infrastructure can improve screening of types. Optimal per-trip tarifs depend on the time cost of travel and the effct on labor supply of changes in the amount of working days. Reducing the time cost of journeys facilitates screening. Therefore, redistribution provides an additional motive to raise per-trip car tariffs (thus curbing road congestion) and upgrade infrastructure. We also provide some insights on the usefulness of means-testing for transport tariffs. |
| Keywords: | road pricing, public transport pricing, infrastructure provision, income taxation |
| JEL: | H21 H23 H54 R41 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:25766&r=tre |
| By: | Jean-Paul Rodrigue |
| Abstract: | Transportation is an inherently crucial factor in supporting economic activities as well as providing opportunities for economic development. As such, the provision of transport infrastructures is a common priority in capital investment, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean where infrastructural capabilities are often lacking. The purpose of this report is to underline the key dimensions behind the benefits of logistics investments. It particularly focuses on port / hinterland supply chains in which the setting of logistics zones, transport and logistics corridors and inland ports provide a salient example of the multiplying effects of transport infrastructure and freight logistics investments. |
| Keywords: | Rural & Urban Development :: Public Utilities, Infrastructure & Transport :: Ports & Waterways, Infrastructure & Transport :: Roads & Highways, Integration & Trade :: Trade Facilitation, Infrastructure & Transport :: Railways, Integration & Trade :: Globalization & Regionalization, Freight Transport, Trade Facilitation, Airports, Railways, Roads, Logistics zones |
| JEL: | R40 O18 R42 L92 L93 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:66898&r=tre |
| By: | Inge Mayeres; Alex Van Steenbergen; Marie Vandresse |
| Abstract: | This paper seeks to extend the PLANET model to allow for an endogenous influence of transport sector outcomes on the economy. To this end, we embed the PLANET data on freight and household transport for 2003 into a static CGE model of the Belgian economy. Households use transport for commuting and leisure transport, while production sectors use freight as an input. We allow for important feedback effects on generalized transport costs through congestion. To illustrate the model, we contrast the effects of a kilometre charge on freight only and a charge that targets household transport as well. |
| JEL: | C68 D58 D62 R41 |
| Date: | 2011–08–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpb:wpaper:1112&r=tre |
| By: | Tim Besley; Thiemo Fetzer; Hannes Mueller |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the effect of piracy attacks on shipping costs using a unique data set on shipping contracts in the dry bulk market. We look at shipping routes whose shortest path exposes them to piracy attacks and find that the increase in attacks in 2008 lead to around a ten percent increase in shipping costs. We use this estimate to get a sense of the welfare loss imposed by piracy. Our intermediate estimate suggests that the creation of $120 million of revenue for pirates in the Somalia area led to a welfare loss of over $1.5 billion. |
| Keywords: | piracy, welfare loss, maritime transport, Somalia, private security, law and order, property rights |
| JEL: | K42 O18 F1 D74 |
| Date: | 2012–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aub:autbar:898.12&r=tre |
| By: | Escobari, Diego |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a unique U.S. airlines panel data set to empirically study the dynamic pricing of inventories with uncertain demand over a finite horizon. I estimate a dynamic pricing equation and a dynamic demand equation that jointly characterize the adjustment process between prices and sales as the flight date nears. I find that the price increases as the inventory decreases, and decreases as there is less time to sell. Consistent with aggregate demand learning and price adjustment, demand shocks have a positive and much larger effect on prices than the positive effect of anticipated sales. |
| Keywords: | pricing; demand uncertainty; demand learning; airlines |
| JEL: | L93 D84 C23 D83 |
| Date: | 2011–12–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:38509&r=tre |
| By: | Börjesson , Maria (KTH) |
| Abstract: | It is sometimes argued that standard state-of-practice logit based models cannot forecast the demand for substantially reduced travel times, for instance due to High Speed Rail (HSR). The present paper investigates this issue by reviewing travel time elasticities for long-distance rail travel in the literature and comparing these with elasticities observed when new HSR lines have opened. This paper also validates the Swedish official long-distance model and its forecasted demand for a proposed new HSR track, using aggregate data revealing how the air-rail modal split varies with the difference in generalized travel time between rail and air. The official linear-in-parameters long-distance model is also compared to a model applying Box-Cox transformations. The paper contributes to the empirical literature on long-distance travel, long-distance elasticities and HSR passenger demand forecasts. Results indicate that the Swedish state-of-practice model, and similar models, is indeed able to predict the demand for a HSR reasonably well. The non-linear model, however, has better model fit and slightly higher elasticities. |
| Keywords: | High Speed Rail; Travel Demand; Forecasting; Air-rail Share; Cost-benefit Analysis |
| JEL: | C25 D61 J22 R41 R42 |
| Date: | 2012–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2012_013&r=tre |
| By: | Gavazza, Alessandro; Lizzeri, Alessandro; Rokestkiy, Nikita |
| Abstract: | We quantitatively investigate the allocative and welfare effects of secondary markets for cars. An important source of gains from trade in these markets is the heterogeneity in the willingness to pay for higher-quality (newer) goods, but transaction costs are an impediment to instantaneous trade. We explore how the income distribution affects this heterogeneity--income is an important determinant of willingness to pay for quality. Calibration of the model successfully matches several aggregate features of the U.S. and French used-car markets. Counterfactual analyses show that transaction costs have a large effect on volume of trade, allocations, and the primary market. Aggregate effects on consumer surplus and welfare are relatively small, but the effect on lower-income households can be large. |
| Keywords: | Durable Goods; Secondary Markets; Income Heterogeneity |
| JEL: | D12 L62 E10 |
| Date: | 2012–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:38414&r=tre |