|
on Transport Economics |
| By: | Koundouri, Phoebe; Kountouris, Yannis; Stithou, Mavra |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the results of a Choice Experiment (CE) conducted to estimate the values derived from a highway construction project in Greece. To account for preference heterogeneity conditional logit with interactions and random parameter logit models are estimated. The results indicate that individuals have significant values for travel time savings, percentage decrease in traffic accidents, percentage decrease in traffic related emissions and landscape modifications. Models where the attributes are interacted with socioeconomic variables perform better and produce lower welfare estimates compared to models without interactions with important implications for cost benefit analysis. |
| Keywords: | Choice experiments; transport infrastructure;travel time savings; accidents; pollution reduction |
| JEL: | C9 N7 C93 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:38274&r=tre |
| By: | Westin , Jonas (KTH); Basck, Pierre (LET, Université de Lyon); Franklin, Joel P. (KTH); Proost , Stef (CES, KU Leuven); Raux , Charles (LET, Université de Lyon) |
| Abstract: | The paper analyzes the political acceptability of policies targeted at relieving urban congestion. The paper combines a stylized model of an urban transport network with a somewhat more detailed model of the political process that incorporates interactions between voters, special interest groups and politicians to explore the possibilities to reach political acceptability for efficient transport policies. In a case study of a proposed bypass in Lyon, France, the paper compares a set of potential policies in terms of efficiency, equity and political acceptability. A possible explanation for the difficulty of achieving political support for efficient transport policies is that since urban road pricing policies are characterized by conflicting interest, the political decision making process must balance different interests against each other to reach an efficient outcome. The analysis suggest that the difficulty to achieve political support for efficient road pricing policies is not a lack of political acceptability; instead the difficulty arises because of low political feasibility for efficient transport pricing since non-efficient transport policies are seen as more attractive to the decision makers. |
| Keywords: | User charges; Political economy; Transport infrastructure; Welfare effects; Acceptability of transport pricing |
| JEL: | H76 R42 R48 R48 R53 |
| Date: | 2012–10–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2012_019&r=tre |
| By: | Katarzyna Iwaszko |
| Abstract: | The paper analyze the impacts of infrastructure investments on clusters of directions and development trends of contacts made through the road network. The present settlement system is a particular system of interconnected elements. These connections are part of a network of accessibility which influences the development of concentration and hierarchy of the structure. The creation or termination of new connections leads to completely different spatial characteristics of entire networks, and thus influences the possibility to create contacts and develop particular areas. Up to the 20th century the communication system was determined by the geographical space. The popularization of new means of transport and the development of infrastructure, i.e. bridges, highways, overpasses and tunnels improved the speed of traveling and reduced the dependence on geographical conditions. The accessibility of communication became equivalent to the duration of a trip rather than its distance. By introducing new, significantly faster connections or by overcoming topographical barriers, we gradually change the whole settlement structure. The paper presents results of investigation on transportation network, curried out characterization of the transport network as a factor which delimits development of areas. The studies implement an original cyclical-complex model based on T. Zipser’s theory of contacts and theory of spherical projection. The method refers to the ways of standardization of descriptions of states and phenomena of various research aspects concerning the same space which is particularly essential in network issues, where the anisotropy of an infrastructure is deal with. In contrast to illustrations, which do not contain any more data than the tables upon which they are based, this analysis is in itself a research tool. Owing to visual integration and theoretical interpretation it enables us to read the morphology of the whole structure, which is otherwise not evident. The study focuses on the region of Lower Silesia divided into communes (gminas). The study includes analyses of the communication network in the early 20th century, the network system of 1937 with the opened Berlin-Wroc³aw highway, and the current communication network with consideration of the Polish National Highway Development Plan. Keywords: communication networks, communication accessibility, communication efficacy, settlement structures |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p826&r=tre |
| By: | Richard Arnott; Eren Inci; John Rowse |
| Abstract: | Through an extended numerical example, this paper develops a diagrammatic analysis of steady-state parking and traffic congestion in an isotropic downtown and provides systematic policy analysis. Unlike our previous work, the model incorporates curbside parking, garage parking, and price-sensitive travel demand in a unified setting. We examine the deadweight loss associated with underpriced curbside parking, as well as first- and second-best curbside parking capacities. We also explore the transient dynamics and stability of various downtown traffic equilibria. Keywords: cruising for parking, curbside parking, parking garages, parking policy, traffic congestion JEL Classification: D04; L91; R41; R48 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p611&r=tre |
| By: | Fabio Bianchi |
| Abstract: | Studies carried out so far in the literature of transport economics have focused almost exclusively on the analysis of the costs of transportation companies (both public and private) and the effects of the planning of services operated by rail or bus, aiming at reducing their costs. During the last twenty years many European metropolitan areas, however, have developed an integrated tariff system to allow easier access to public transport for citizens. The paper is focused on the main successful attempts in transport fare integration among Europe which showed that any integrated system consists of one essential element: the zoning of the area. While the ticket price depends on economic variables such as income, the demand and the supply of services, zoning is closely tied to both the conformation of the territory and the form of government of the metropolitan area.. Regarding the zoning of areas subject to tariff integration, planning strategies that have been used in Europe correspond to four recurring criteria. These criteria do not seem to be independent of the political choices of actors who co-founded the metropolitan area where there an integrated tariff is in operation. Almost all the cities seemed to follow a common history in strategic planning and the main factor coincides with the role played by institutional actors and, above all, by the authority which held the leadership. In Region Lombardy a new integrated system is being set up which will coordinate seven local authorities; the enabling factor is based on an innovative technological platform that allows citizens to use their ID smartcard to load tickets and subscription. The fare integration is certainly an evolution of pricing in local public services, particularly in two areas: it allows a more efficient planning of transport services and the increase of more customers by simplifying the access to the system. A further element in favor of integrated systems is the change in the inter-institutional relations between the entities that are part of the metropolitan area whose close collaboration and the resulting best practices are also applicable to other public services than transportation.On the other hand, the integration confirms and amplifies the distortion sometimes caused by errors in the planning of public transport, beginning with some subsidies that are not entirely effective and consistent with the objectives publicly declared. Keywords: public transport, transport fares, mobility governance, regional planning, eGovernment JEL code: R48 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p581&r=tre |
| By: | Roger Bivand; Gianfranco Piras |
| Abstract: | Investments in infrastructure are often seen as preferred policies for promoting regional growth. It is clear that good infrastructure projects, based on cost-benefit analysis, should show a countercyclical pattern. Being long-term investments, the benefits should be independent of the business cycle. However, the social costs of each project would be lower in cyclical troughs, when there is surplus capacity. The paper hopes to explore whether these relationships can be demonstrated. JEL: C21, R11, R23, R42 Keywords: Regional growth, transport investments, spatial econometrics |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p366&r=tre |
| By: | Vierth , Inge (VTI) |
| Abstract: | In CTS Working Paper 2011:14 it is shown that the balance between road, rail and sea transports for long distance freight transports in, to and from Sweden in 2015/16 would shift in favour of road transports. The result follows the prediction that the sea transport costs increase slightly less than rail transport costs if the government gives all modes an equal liability for external costs and applies the same funding model for all modes. The current report analyses based on a literature review and interviews with shippers how the changed transport costs would influence mode choice. It is shown that the companies are price sensitive, independently of the mode of transport. The transport costs (per tonkm) for sea and rail are low when economies of scale are realised. But there is a trade-off between low transport costs and high frequencies. Transport chains that make use of economies of scale for sea and rail transports often contrast to “small scale chains” that go via the nearest port. The role of the forwarders is crucial when it comes to transport solutions that affect several shippers as consolidation of goods volumes or usage of unbalanced flows. Preferences to change to other modes differ between different sectors and between inbound and outbound transports etc. The overall picture is that shippers and forwarders’ preference to use sea transports instead of land transports is limited. The existence of economies of scale in different parts of the transport system and the shippers’ demand of many departures can be seen as hinder for small scale sea transports through the many ports on the Swedish coastline. |
| Keywords: | Internalization; Freight transport; Intermodal competition |
| JEL: | R40 |
| Date: | 2012–10–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2012_020&r=tre |
| By: | Tamas Dusek |
| Abstract: | The aim of the study is to examine two issues of consumer air travel accessibility in Europe, namely flight time and ticket costs. The first part of the paper discusses the various methodological problems of creating time matrix and cost matrix of air travel. Because of problems of conceptualizing of the air travel network and the modifiable areal unit problem the analysis is conducted on several spatial levels. The smallest network consists of 15 busiest airports and the largest network has 203 airports. Airports were selected based on the number of arriving and departing aircraft. The source of flight time data is the timetable for the non-stop flights. Flight time was calculated with a simple algorithm based on timetable flight time for one-stop and two-stop connections. The source of ticket cost data is an internet query of travel itineraries. Several distance matrices were created for different networks and date of flights. The applied part of analysis uses simple methods also, such as average flight time, speed, cost and unit cost. The deformation of time and cost space from the Euclidean space is analyzed by multidimensional scaling. The comparison of geographical space on one side, and time space and cost space on the other side is made by the simple regression analysis and bidimensional regression. Results show significant local and regional biases in time and cost space, relative to the air distance. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p735&r=tre |
| By: | Kirsi Mukkala; Hannu Tervo |
| Abstract: | The role of airports has become increasingly important with globalization. To have a regional airport is an especially important asset for retaining companies in the region as well as attracting new economic activity to the region. A well-developed transport infrastructure can be seen as a facilitator that allows the economic potential of a region to be realized. The provision of transportation does not, however, automatically lead to economic growth. It may also be the other way round: economic development leads to the better transport infrastructure and accessibility, stressing demand side elements. This paper aims to shed further light on the relationship between regional airports and economic performance. We ask whether accessibility is a key factor to economic success, or rather a consequence of it. In order to test the relative importance of various effects, the Granger non-causality method in a panel framework is applied. The Granger method exploits the fact that in time series there is temporal ordering, and the belief that effects cannot occur before causes. The empirical analysis is based on European level annual data from 86 regions and 13 countries on air traffic and regional economic performance in the period 1991-2010. The results revealed that for at least some regions (and possible all), there is statistical evidence of Granger causality from air traffic to regional growth but these processes are not uniform in all regions. The categorization of the regions into three groups of equal size according to their peripherality showed significant causality in peripheral regions and indicative causality in intermediate regions, while in core regions no significant causality was found. Hence, peripherality indeed matters: the more remote the region is the more important for it is to have efficient air connections. The evidence of the opposite direction of causality - from regional development to air traffic - was only partial and homogenous. Keywords: air traffic, regional growth, Granger causality |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p642&r=tre |
| By: | leonid Bezrukov |
| Abstract: | Areas with limited transport accessibility are considered to mean territories lacking year-round roads and routes, such as railroads, motor roads, sea routes, and inland waterways. Siberia, as Russia’s largest macroregion, has within its boundaries huge territories difficult of access, where only seasonal waterways and winter motor roads, and also expensive air transport are available. The socioeconomic state of the Siberian areas with limited transport accessibility is under a negative influence of two transport-economic barriers simultaneously. The presence of the former barrier is characteristic for the whole of Siberia, including the zone serviced by railroads and all-the-year-round motor roads. The operation of this barrier is associated with the landlocked macrolocation of Siberia, and with the huge and expensive distances which have to be traveled when transporting cargo and passengers to the leading centers and sea ports of Russia and the world at large (and, accordingly, vice versa). The chief point is that there is still a significant difference between land transport tariffs, on the one hand, and economical sea transportation rates, on the other. Therefore, in landlocked regions, and in Siberia in particular, the high transport expenses continue to have an unfavorable influence on economic efficiency and remain a severe obstacle to the entry into the remote markets. The second barrier arises directly because of lack of year-round communications, and its operation is characteristic precisely for areas with limited transport accessibility doomed to drag out a backward socioeconomic existence or bear sky-rocketed transport expenses. Compared with the belt along the railroads, the transport expenses in areas without railroads increase several times, which was established through our estimation of cost for the transport-geographical location (TGL) of Siberia’s administrative districts. Districts with a particularly disadvantageous TGL are represented by the most backward and peripheral territories of the Sakha Republic, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk Oblast, Tyva Republic, and some other Siberian subjects of the Russian Federation which are distinguished for an exceptionally sparse network of human settlements, a total lack of good roads, and for extensive kinds of economy. The broad-scale construction of new railroads and all-the-year-round motor roads, as planned by the “Transport strategy of the Russian federation into the year 2030â€, would radically change the situation for the better. According to our assessment, the implementation of the aforementioned “Strategy†would lead to a reduction in transport expenses and to an improvement in TGL of about 100 areas of Siberia, which would create favorable possibilities for their full-fledged socioeconomic development. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p206&r=tre |
| By: | Maria Emilia Baltazar; Jorge Silva; Margarida Vaz; Verna Allee; Tiago Marques |
| Abstract: | The measure of an airport performance and its efficiency is generally made using operational and financial data, thus providing a position rank in respect to a set of airports. But this methodology, by itself, cannot provide the true relationships between a certain position in the rank of an airport and the generated value associated with that position, either within the entire business system of the airport or within the inter-relationships that it establishes with the surrounding community. To understand the role that airport infrastructure plays within the regional development, not only a variety of relationships must be recognized, but also how they create or may create value. For better understanding of how processes and people create value in an airport network ecosystem, it is possible to use Value Network Analysis (VNA). VNA is a methodology that provides a capability to understand, visualize and optimize internal and external value networks of complex economic ecosystems, thus capturing dynamics of the entire system. This paper presents a map of the interrelationships between the airport’s players and the hinterland’s players in three different scenarios, the air traveler, the supply chain, and the infrastructure development, considering the related impacts in the form of the tertiary effects and the perpetual effects. The first scenario results from the existence of the air transport services for the use of individuals. The second is related with the airport suppliers and the services supplies to the air passenger and cargo when companies need a high speed and quality transport services. The third scenario considers perpetual effects associated with the regional economy considering that an infrastructure investment will raise the level of activity and stimulates productivity. These scenarios are comprised in a adapted model with four interconnected interface domains that we assume reinforce the sustainability of airport business activities within a territory in the long-term: Economic Development, Land Use, Infrastructures and Governance. This model is essentially an organizing tool that identifies key policy areas to improve integrated decision-making processes and is a conceptual framework for future research. The application of VNA methodology allows the recognition and assessment of impacts and relationships between multiple systems, thus avoiding an ad-hoc analysis and compartmentalized of issues. In the context of the present study not only a variety of relationships are recognized, but also how they create or may create value, allowing a better understanding of the role that airport infrastructure plays within the regional development. Keywords: Airports Infrastructure, Regional Development, Scenarios Evaluation, Value Network Analysis JEL-CODES: L93, O18 e R41 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p514&r=tre |
| By: | Georg Hirte; Stefan Tscharaktschiew |
| Abstract: | Many governments subsidize electric mobility (E-mobility) to increase the share of electric vehicles (EV) in the car fleet. This aims at reducing carbon emissions. Despite that there is not much research on the full economic costs and benefits of this measures. There are only a few Cost Benefit Analyses (CBA). They, however, do not take into account repercussion and substitution effects. We fill this gap in the literature and examine subsidies to EVs in a full spatial general equilibrium model. Since cities are the main area were EVs will be used, we focus on cities and apply a spatial approach. In particular, we ask whether it is optimal to subsidize or tax electric vehicles and, how large, the corresponding optimal rate is. We, first, derive analytically the optimal subsidy in a spatial partial equilibrium model of a city with two zones where commuting, carbon emissions, endogenous labor supply, fuel and power taxes are considered and where we distinguish between fuel vehicles and electric vehicles. There we find that the optimal subsidy rate is the sum of changes in externality costs (emissions + congestion), an opposite tax interaction effect, a redistribution effect between cities inhabitants and absentee landlords and a cost effect due to higher costs of producing travelling with power in comparison to fuel. The latter two effects are usually not considered in CBAs. Second, we extend the model to a full spatial general equilibrium model and employ simulations to calculate sign and size of the optimal subsidy or tax rate. This model is calibrated to a typical German metropolitan area. The results show that electric vehicles should not be subsidized but taxed. The results are robust with respect to changes in the willingness to adopt electric vehicles (EVs), changes in fix costs of EVs, and even if emission of EVs are zero. We change all these parameters to capture extreme and very unlikely behavior such as a very high demand elasticity of EVs with respect to the power tax rate, very low costs and the case that EVs have zero CO2 emissions. Concerning these variables we suggest that EVs should not be subsidized because welfare costs of achieving a small reduction in emissions are very high. We draw the conclusion that E-mobility might only be an efficient policy if it is considered as complement to other policies. This issue is left for future research. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p324&r=tre |
| By: | Marcus Berliant; Hiroki Watanabe |
| Abstract: | Zipf's law is one of the best-known empirical regularities of the city-size distribution. There is extensive research on the subject, where each city is treated symmetrically in terms of the cost of transactions with other cities. Recent developments in network theory facilitate the examination of an asymmetric transport network. Under the scale-free transport network framework, the chance of observing extremes becomes higher than the Gaussian distribution predicts and therefore it explains the emergence of large clusters. City-size distributions share the same pattern. This paper proposes a way to incorporate network structure into urban economic models and explains the city-size distribution as a result of transport cost between cities. Keywords: Zipf's law, city-size distribution, scale-free network JEL classification: R12, R40 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p601&r=tre |
| By: | Francesca Medda; Gianni Carbonaro |
| Abstract: | The development of critical infrastructure such as transport is increasingly becoming part of the investment portfolio, not only of European public authorities, but also of the private sector. However, since the 27 EU member states differ substantially in their social and economic structure and infrastructure endowment, this should already prepare us for the variety of approaches to infrastructure investment strategy and financing in use (DLA Piper, 2006; EIB, 2004). Within this context we need to keep in mind that member state governments are characterized by very diverse administrative cultures and capabilities and distinct legal and planning traditions. Despite these differences, the objective of this paper is to define a common framework that can be used as a toolkit for the PPP application in transport. We review four main cases of PPP implementation in Europe in order to identify the common elements and the divergent ones. Given this background and the current economic crisis, two policy streams are at the core of our toolkit definition. First, EU countries are confronted with the necessity to improve competitiveness by investing in transport infrastructure. Second, several member states are compelled to contain their public budgets. These two policy streams provide countries with a powerful incentive to explore alternative funding approaches in order to build transport infrastructure and provide service delivery. The proposed approach is based on the concept that a partnership is as a long-term co-operative relationship for which renegotiation of contract terms is acceptable. In this context, the nature of the public sector contribution ranges from conferring assets and providing guarantees to contractual and regulatory measures. Although it is difficult to provide a clear-cut characterisation for the PPP toolkit we propose a shift away from conventional traditional models of transportation service delivery, (characterized by hierarchical decision structures, vertical integration in delivery, and relatively underspecified funding tools), to a more diversified financial landscape where the toolkit represent a platform where different financial resources can be implemented. Therefore, the main potential benefit of the toolkit PPP approach, in transport, is its flexibility in adapting the structure of incentives and risk-sharing to the features of the project and to the economic and institutional environment. However, in practice the public sector agency has to achieve a judgment about the trade-offs between the various, sometimes conflicting, objectives. Keywords: Transport, Investment, PPP JEL: R42 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p921&r=tre |
| By: | Nicholas Sheard |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the effect of air transport on local production in the manufacturing and service sectors. The analysis is conducted using data from the United States. These effects are important for the design of policies that aim to develop an airport or to otherwise attract airlines to operate to and from the airport. This type of policy is commonly employed by national and local governments, indeed most large commercial airports in the United States and Canada are publicly owned. Though it is common for local authorities to construct new runways, terminals, or other facilities, the effects of such policies are not currently well understood. The estimation of the effect of airport size on local production is subject to an obvious endogeneity problem, as airlines are likely to expand operations in response to increased demand. This problem is addressed by using the 1944 National Airport Plan of the Civil Aeronautics Administration to instrument for the distribution of airports. The National Airport Plan passes the statistical tests for relevance and exogeneity, which is not surprising as the federal funding connected to it was important for the rapid development of the air network after the Second World War and the criteria used to select sites was unrelated even to the contemporary distribution of sectors. Better air connections are found to have a positive effect on the size of the local service sector, with an elasticity of approximately 0.2. A larger airport – hosting more frequent flights to a wider range of destinations – is associated with a greater share of the population in the metropolitan area being employed in the service sector. This is interpreted as indicating that services are being produced in the metropolitan areas with larger airports for export elsewhere. There appears to be no effect on non-tradable services, such as beauty salons and auto repair, precisely as we would expect. The effect on manufacturing is negative, though this appears to reflect substitution to the expanded service sector rather than a direct effect, as the analysis of manufacturing shipments between pairs of cities does not appear to be related to air traffic. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p429&r=tre |
| By: | Jie Zhu; Ying Jin; Marcial Echenique |
| Abstract: | Application of a new spatial computable general equilibrium model for assessing strategic transport and land use development options in London and surrounding regions By Jie Zhu, Ying Jin and Marcial Echenique The Martin Centre, University of Cambridge, UK JEL Classification: C68, F12, F16, F17,O18, R13, R42 Key words: Computable general equilibrium; spatial modelling; increasing returns to scale; integrated land use and transport modelling This paper reports the application of our new spatial computable general equilibrium (SCGE) model for analyzing the wider effects of strategic transport and land use development options. We examine the insights afforded by a SCGE model relative to those provided by existing land use and transport models into the effectiveness of transport and land use strategies. We start from a static imperfect competition computable general equilibrium model for an open economy, and extend it to incorporate (1) Hicks-neutral agglomeration effects that arise from external increasing returns to scale induced from urbanization and transport improvements, (2) land as an explicit factor input to production, and (3) commuting and migration of labour in a dynamic labour market. These extensions are built on models of constant elasticity of substitution specified for production technology and utility functions, interregional trade pooling, concave-shaped iceberg transport costs, the Armington specification regarding product varieties, the Dixit and Stiglitz type of monopolistic competition among producers, and the concept of the spatial economic mass. Data from London and surrounding regions is used to calibrate and validate the model. We report its applications in studying suburban road capacity expansion, high speed rail links and suburban and exurban land supply. The model results obtained so far are in line with theoretical expectations and provide new quantification of the costs and benefits that feed into the assessment of those strategies. Some on-going and further developments of the model include (1) All exogenous parameters for setting up the model are subject to further refinement from conducting sensitivity tests with respect to the magnitude of the model responses, (2) Flows between zones can in the future be mapped on to transport networks, e.g. through linking to a detailed transport model, and (3) the model may be extended with a recursive dynamic structure for policy analysis by incremental policy horizons. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p931&r=tre |
| By: | Silvia Rossetti; Michela Tiboni |
| Abstract: | In the context of sustainable mobility great attention should be paid not only to urban mobility issues but also to suburban and interurban travels: an efficient collective transit service may represent an alternative to cars for these types of movements. Integrated approaches gathering urban planning and transport management can help in lowering individualized traffic volumes and in increasing collective transit usage. An assessment of the existing transit network and of its catchment areas may be a first step to investigate the relationship between the demand and the supply of collective transit facilities: a focus on land uses can help in providing this first assessment. How can accessibility to collective transit be evaluated? Is it possible to link the suburban collective passenger transit network with land uses, in order to analyse the spatial efficiency of bus stops? The present paper aims at linking the location of existing bus stops with the surrounding land uses, with a focus on the case study of the Province of Brescia, which is one of the most dynamic realities of northern Italy. Using a land use geographical database it is possible to select land uses which, more than others, are able to attract or to generate potential transit users: residential units, public (and of public interest) facilities and productive infrastructures. The area served by the transit service can be estimated as the surface that people can reach from each stop by walking. To a first approximation, an influence radius of 450 m, corresponding to a walking distance of about 10 minutes from each stop, may be chosen and mapped using a GIS software. Then the assessment can be performed calculating the proportion of different land uses covered by the transit service (and by difference the proportion of land uses that are at the moment not served by transit facilities). Furthermore, through an observation of the less covered catchment areas it is possible to detect the less useful bus stops, which in case of a reorganization of the lines may be taken off without generating disagreements. The paper doesn’t represent an exhaustive overview of all the accessibility issues related to collective transit but may be seen as a starting point from which further analysis can be developed. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p354&r=tre |
| By: | Robin Lovelace; Dimitris Ballas |
| Abstract: | Transport to work is a universal phenomenon, but is uneven over space. The distribution of mode and distance statistics vary depending on a range of factors. The scale of analysis (from individual to local and regional levels), the location of the study area (e.g. urban or rural settlements), and the socio-economic characteristics of the target population all influence commuter patterns. This heterogeneity is problematic for decision makers tasked with encouraging more sustainable and less costly commuter patterns based on transport to work statistics. Existing studies on commuting fail to consider the multiple levels at which transport systems operate, and leave important questions unanswered. For example, should policies target individuals, local areas, or regions, and at what level should they operate for maximum benefit? This paper outlines this research problem, and then describes an approach for tackling it based on a case study of Yorkshire and the Humber, an economically peripheral region of the UK. Our spatial microsimulation model uses iterative proportional fitting (IPF) to simulate the characteristics of individual commuters, in terms of socio-economic class, age, sex, and income, while geographically aggregated commuter statistics are constrained by Census data. This represents a novel application of spatial microsimulation, to model commuter behaviour. The approach has the potential to allow 'what if' scenarios to be undertaken, and opens up the possibility of dynamic microsimulation to policy makers. This latter possibility is attractive because it allows scenario-based projections of the future for the evaluation of policy assumptions. The results of the static model illustrate the importance of accounting for variability at the individual level when devising transport policies. The method is discussed with respect to long term transport policy objectives at the EU level. In conclusion, our approach could provide valuable information for policy evaluation at individual, local and regional levels. Keywords: spatial microsimulation, commuting, transport policy JEL Code: R49 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p730&r=tre |
| By: | Rafael Santos; Jorge Silva |
| Abstract: | All over the world there are several countries where airships are being used for military and civilian purposes. The rebirth of this mean of transportation, capable of easily overcoming some deficiencies of the conventional ones, brings medium and long term economic benefits. In addition, they offer different services at lower costs, and they also may stimulate new commercial and industrial activities and even new transactional routes. The background of airship technology comes from the XVIII century. Since then, all those years were of scientific and empirical knowledge. Now, they form the basis for a sustainable future in emerging technologies, making the return of airships possible. This revived interest in airship technology brings a multitude of technical concepts resulting from interdisciplinary research. Consequently, the state of art of airships presents new research which paves the way for the reappearance of renewed horizons with regards to the use of airships. Companies are focused on the research, development and testing of new airship concepts and designs too. Nowadays, airships are being studied for commercial transport in different parts of the globe, from Canada, Brazil, Peru, to Australia. India, for example, has studies about the connection to remote areas with poor surface infrastructure which only can be reached by air or walking. This way, it’s expected that airships will become a competitive mean of transport to link areas served by deficient transport infrastructures. Taking the principles of sustainable development of air transport, airships are the most environment-friendly vehicles with lower fuel consumption and with higher endurance. Therefore, as a result, they are paving the way for new markets. This work examines these technological improvements and the economic feasibility of the use of airships in certain market niches. Mainly, this work makes use of a study concerning the viability of the use of airships within Portuguese Tourism and Urban Logistic activity sectors. This paper is organized as follows: firstly, state of the art reviews about airships technological characteristics: operational constraints, operation scenarios, and international and national legislation. Secondly, improvement of two case studies within the Portuguese territory (touristic flights and urban logistic activity): operational parameters evaluation and operating cost estimation. And thirdly, some insights and challenges of research that is still in progress. KeyWords: Airships, Technical and Economic Feasibility, Market Niches, Tourism, Urban Logistics. JEL Codes: L93, O18, R11 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p679&r=tre |
| By: | Milan Viturka; Vilém Paril; Petr Tonev |
| Abstract: | In a large number of countries (including the Czech Republic), implementation of large projects of transport infrastructure is justified by a general reference to its broad economic benefits, which are, however, seldom further specified. One of important reasons for such an approach is the non-existence of an empirically verified model for complex assessment of the degree of necessity of the development of these projects. Therefore, the main objective of the paper is to present an original method for comparative assessment of motorway and expressway constructions. The method has been applied to eight cases of the most significant projects planned in the Czech Republic verifying that its use can provide the necessary information on their potential benefits (in spite of some simplifications). The methodology for the generalized assessment attempts to connect technical, economic, political, spatial and environmental aspects and includes five basic criteria: relevance (traffic intensity as the underlying factor determining the technical need for a project), usefulness (time saved in personal transport and haulage, due to the insecurity concerning future transport flows interpreted by relative values derived from design speeds), integration (strategic significance of the projects regarding the connection of the most significant residential areas and the connection with neighbouring countries), stimulation (economic impacts assessed based on a potential improvement of the factor of road and railway quality as an integral part of the regional quality of business environment), and sustainability (environmental impacts of the construction on more significant residential centres and selected protected areas, with emphasis on pollution and noise). The complex assessment of selected projects of motorways (D) and express ways (R) has been performed based on an aggregation of rankings of the projects within the defined criteria. The projects were then divided into three groups: projects where need for construction has been proven, has been found disputable or has not been proven. The first group contains R 55), D 3 and R 35. However, this does not mean that there are no drawbacks – e.g. R 35 has the lowest ranking within the sustainability criterion. The second group contains D 11 and R 49. The assessment of their construction has been negatively affected by their ranking within the usefulness and stimulation criteria (D 11), and relevance and integration criteria (R 49). The position of the projects in the third group, R 6, R 7 and R 43 follows from their bad ranking within most of the established criteria (R 6 and R 7 – three criteria; R 43 – all criteria except usefulness). |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p126&r=tre |
| By: | Martijn Kobus; Eva Gutiérrez-i-Puigarnau; Piet Rietveld; Jos Van Ommeren |
| Abstract: | Although the growing economics of parking literature almost exclusively focuses on the drivers' choice between curb and garage parking (and the consequences of non-optimal pricing), we are not aware of a substantial literature of revealed-preference studies which examines this choice. As a result, we currently have little or no knowledge to what extent differences between on-street and garage parking prices affect this choice. We introduce and apply an easy-to-implement methodology to estimate drivers’ willingness to pay for curb parking (relative to garage parking), using information from administrative data about parking choice and parking duration for one particular city. This kind of administrative data is widely available in many other cities around the world. So, one of the advantages of our methodology is that it easily be reapplied in other cities. In essence, we estimate the effect of parking prices on parking choice (i.e. street or garage), given information about parking durations. Our methodology is based on the observation that the differences in prices for on-street and garage parking depends on parking duration. So, conditional on (anticipated) parking duration, drivers face different pricing schemes. The endogeneity of parking duration is acknowledged in the estimation procedure. We show that drivers’ willingness to pay for curb parking (relative to garage parking) is positive and about € 0.35 - 0.58. When we assume a car drivers’ value of time of € 5.00 per hour, our results imply that drivers save about 4 - 7 minutes when parking on-street. This seems a reasonable result. Our results also imply that car drivers are rather sensitive to small price differences between street and garage parking, which makes sense as both are close substitutes. For example, if curb parking were only 33 percent cheaper than garage parking, the on-street stock of cars would increase threefold. Our estimates strongly suggest that a parking regime including curb prices that are (slightly) higher than garage prices is welfare improving, in particular because drivers with longer parking durations are induced to use garage parking. Key-words: Curb parking, garage parking, parking policy. JEL code: R41 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p753&r=tre |
| By: | Laurent Van Malderen; Bart Jourquin; Isabelle Thomas |
| Abstract: | In recent years, the interest of companies for mobility has steadily increased through both public policies aiming at involving the companies in the mobility issue and business objectives mobility can achieve. As a result, a growing number of companies have implemented an Employer Transport Plan (ETP). However, the research literature has brought only a limited attention to ETPs. In addition, existing studies on commuting are often based on the analysis of one specific mode of transport. Hence, the aim of this paper is to find out whether ETPs change the commuting behaviour of workers by simultaneously analysing the modal shares of each mode of transport use to commute in Belgium. To achieve this objective data of the Belgian ‘home to work travels’ diagnosis is used. This diagnosis is performed ever 3 years by the FPS Mobility and Transport and is mandatory: each company located in Belgium and employing at least 100 workers have to fill in a mobility questionnaire. Two diagnoses (in 2005 and in 2008) are available to date, and are used in this research. The database contains information on the modal split and its evolution at 4459 workplaces, as well as on the ETP which was implemented by those workplaces at both dates. Spatial econometrics techniques are then used in order to explain the modal splits at each workplace. In fact, spatial autocorrelation has been detected in the data and spatial econometrics allow taking into account similar unobserved environmental characteristics. A single equation (SE) is firstly estimated to explain the modal share of each mode of transport. Statistical tests are performed on these SE in order to find out the model specification and the weight matrices to be used. Then, the modal shares are simultaneously estimated thanks to a Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR). The results show that the estimated coefficients of the SUR model do not differ from those estimated in the SEs and that the promotion of alternative modes of transport increases their use. The SUR model will also be estimated with an adding-up constraint in order to ensure that the sum of the estimated modal shares do not exceed hundred percents. The results of this model will then be compared with the SE and SUR models. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p1048&r=tre |
| By: | Aurora Garcia-Gallego (Laboratorio de Economia Experimental and Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I); Nikolaos Georgantzis (Laboratorio de Economia Experimental, Universitat Jaume I and Economics Department, Universidad de Granada); Gerardo Sabater-Grande (Laboratorio de Economia Experimental and Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I) |
| Abstract: | Inspired by the ongoing debate regarding the liberalization of the Spanish railway network, we use real-world information on the features of passenger transportation demand and the existing network infrastructure to build a complex experimental setting. We test the efficiency of alternative service provision obligations imposed to railway companies. Our results show that imposing a minimum service for less profitable connections not only improves consumer and overall welfare but will not harm the companies, because it enhances connectivity and the overall demand on the network. In the absence of such service provision restrictions, the companies failing to recognize the profitability of creating a complete network leave some connections unserved, thus reducing overall demand for passenger services. |
| Keywords: | Transportation sector, Railway network, Experimental Economics |
| JEL: | C92 L33 L51 L92 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:1214&r=tre |
| By: | Jan Suchacek |
| Abstract: | Transport, social as well as some other types of infrastructure represent an important component of system macrostructures. In advanced countries, these system macrostructures are usually – though not necessarily – approximately bound to the existing settlement system. There are only little doubts that the role of infrastructure in local and/or regional development is an indispensable one. Activities of local and/or regional actors can be substantially facilitated or hampered by existing spatial distribution of infrastructure. The same – with even higher intensity – applies to also to post-transition countries among which the Czech Republic can be ranked. Thus, the main objective of this article consists in the analysis and interpretation of the quality and distribution of selected transport, education, research, health, technical and information infrastructure in the Czech Republic. Modern approaches to territorial development typically consider the relative harmony between spatial distribution of population and corresponding infrastructure as guaranteed. This may be the case of leading advanced nations, however less frequently it applies to their post-transition counterparts. Subsequently, the article attempts to disclose both strengths and weaknesses of the spatial profile of infrastructure in the Czech Republic. Spatial analysis of infrastructure in this country will be pragmatically conducted at NUTS III level covering self-governing regions. Selection of indicators as well as territorial scale has been influenced also by qualitative and quantitative limitations still existing in the Czech regional statistics. Key Words: infrastructure, NUTS III regions, settlement system, regional development, Czech Republic JEL Codes: R10, R40, H54, O18 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p358&r=tre |
| By: | Thomas Vanoutrive |
| Abstract: | There is an ongoing debate on the concentration of container throughput in the European container port system. A particular feature is the dominant position of ports located in the Hamburg-Le Havre range. Some proponents of southern European ports argue that a shift in port traffic from the north to the south would be beneficial for the environment and the economy. Furthermore, some argue that concentration of ports might increase regional inequalities in Europe. For instance, the European White Paper on Transport argues that more entry points into European markets are needed on the coasts. In our paper we apply and compare several hinterland accessibility indices to explain the relative size of port regions. Besides standard measures that combine the size of hinterland regions with a distance decay function, we check whether the incorporation of the density of hinterland activities leads to better performing measures. As indicated in the literature, port size is strongly related to hinterland accessibility. The accessibility measures also allow to estimate hinterland overlap between ports which is relevant from a port competition perspective. These figures can also be employed to check the usefulness of commonly applied delimitations of port ranges and port regions like the Rhine-Scheldt Delta and the Hamburg-Le Havre range. To evaluate the robustness of the current distribution of port activities in Europe we investigate what the effect would be of changes in parameter values in the accessibility function and of policies that penalise north-western European ports. We conclude that major changes in the general port layout of Europe are not to be expected. Key words: accessibility, port, hinterland, Europe JEL codes: R12, R40 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p668&r=tre |
| By: | Mélody Leplat |
| Abstract: | The travel cost method is widely used to estimate the value of recreational sites and to simulate the impact of public policies on welfare. Congestion is likely to be a determinant of recreational demand (Jakus and Shaw, 1997) and has to be given special attention. Ignoring this variable leads to the omission bias. But introducing congestion is also likely to involve endogeneity problems because of a potential correlation with the error term. In addition, congestion is determined by a sorting equilibrium, i.e., it is both the result of the choice process and an explanatory variable of this choice. Some methods have been recently propose to address these difficulties. These methods are presented and illustrated in a nested model of recreational choice. |
| Keywords: | congestion, travel costs methods, endogeneity, random utility models |
| JEL: | Q26 Q51 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rae:wpaper:201205&r=tre |
| By: | Florida, Richard (University of Toronto); Mellander, Charlotta (Jönköping International Business School); Holgersson, Thomas (Jönköping International Business School) |
| Abstract: | Short on the role of airports in for regional development in earlier work, our research examines two things: (1) the likelihood for the region to have an airport in the first place and (2) the effects of airports for regional economic development. Based on multiple regression analysis for US metros, we find that airports are more likely in larger metros with higher shares of more cultural workers and warmer winters are more likely to have an airport in the first place. We also find that airports add significantly to economic output per capita, when controlling for other variables, and that the size of the airport activities matters. |
| Keywords: | Airports; economic development |
| JEL: | R00 R40 |
| Date: | 2012–03–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0267&r=tre |
| By: | Sandro Fabbro; Marco Dean |
| Abstract: | The objective of the paper is to explore more realistic short-medium term national and regional strategies to reconnect local infrastructure systems to the wider networks through which global flows transit. As it is known, in the globalization era infrastructures depict the vital element for the functioning of the regional and urban complexes (Graham, 2010), allowing people, goods, energy, information and capitals to move about with unprecedented ease (Flyvbjerg et al., 2003; Rodrigue et al., 2009). At the same time, in this interconnected social and spatial networked system, infrastructures often bypass countries and regions which are less geographically favoured or not capable to adapt themselves to the changing logistic systems (Castells, 1997, Graham and Marvin, 2001). This aspect, together with the current economic crisis –characterized, particularly in the Eu, by strong cuts on public expenditure as well as on programs of public investment in infrastructures-, imposes, before undertaking new programs and projects, an accurate review of the old plans so as to determine whether the old provisions are still useful, effective and legitimate (Dimitriou, 2005). The paper argues that, until this moment, the Italian governments have not been able to adapt infrastructure and transport policies to the new transportation requirements. Policies and planning instruments which have been issued in Italy during the last decade have not been, in fact, selective concerning the identification of the priority infrastructures on which to place the few available resources and to promote private investment (Censis, 2009; Legambiente, 2011). In fact, the Italian governments, instead of basing their strategies on the most concrete TEN-T corridors connecting Italian ports with central Europe, have preferred to conceive their development programs on corridors, as the west-east Corridor V, having an uncertain horizon (Fabbro and Dean, 2012). As a consequence, instead of a favorable connection with the most productive areas of the Central Europe through the north-south Eu Corridors, Italy risks to be marginalized by the most significant global flows (Beretta et al., 2009; Confetra, 2011). In order to support this argumentation the authors present the case of the Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, in the Nord-East of Italy where new regional plans are now finally rediscovering the north-south directrix -on the Adriatic-Baltic Corridor- instead of insisting on the less realistic Corridor V. According to the authors the case study provides evidence of the necessity of a drastic change in the national and regional short-medium term infrastructure strategies and relative planning. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p392&r=tre |
| By: | Sylvain Leduc; Daniel J. Wilson |
| Abstract: | Transportation spending often plays a prominent role in government efforts to stimulate the economy during downturns. Yet, despite the frequent use of transportation spending as a form of fiscal stimulus, there is little known about its short- or medium-run effectiveness. Does it translate quickly into higher employment and economic activity or does it impact the economy only slowly over time? This paper reviews the empirical findings in the literature for the United States and other developed economies and compares the effects of transportation spending to those of other types of government spending. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal policy ; Transportation |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedfwp:2012-15&r=tre |
| By: | Andreas Kappeler; Albert Solé-Ollé; Andreas Stephan; Timo Välilä |
| Abstract: | Spending on productive infrastructure is seen as an important contributor to long term economic growth. Several authors have documented a downward trend in public investment during the last three decades and warned about its possible detrimental effects on the economy. A not well-realized fact is that productive infrastructure investment is mostly provided by sub-national governments. The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of revenue decentralization on the provision of infrastructure at the sub-national level. We estimate the effects of revenue decentralization and earmarked grant financing on the level of sub-national infrastructure investment in 20 European countries over the period 1990-2009. The findings are compared to those obtained when using sub-national investment in redistribution, for which the theory predictions are different. To account for the high auto-correlation in the dependent variable, we apply a dynamic panel data approach. In particular, we use a Corrected Least Squares Dummy Variable (LSDVC) estimator with the lagged dependent variable included to account for the dynamic character of the dependent variable. The empirical analysis shows that decentralisation in terms of tax shares increases public investment in infrastructure; public investment in redistribution is not significantly affected by decentralisation. The positive link between total regional investment and decentralisation suggests that decentralisation on regional infrastructure investment is additional and does not go hand in hand with a considerable reduction in other types of regional investment, such as health, education or safety. As to investment grants, they have a positive impact on both types of regional investment. The negative interaction between investment grants and decentralisation for regional infrastructure investment suggest that the impact of tax decentralisation on regional infrastructure investment declines with increasing receipts of investment grants by regional governments. This result is intuitive. As the significance of the tax-decentralisation parameter suggests, higher regional decision autonomy leads to more investment in infrastructure. Attempts to undermine the power of regions through the backdoor - e.g. by introducing conditional transfers - will at least partly offset the positive effect of decentralisation. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p60&r=tre |
| By: | Sara Zorro; Andre Marques; LuÃs Patrão; Jorge Silva; Miguel Castelo-Branco |
| Abstract: | Light aviation pilots are exposed to many different environmental situations due to non-pressurized aircraft cabins. Those variations can push the human body to some limits, which associated with psychological factors may culminate in incidents or even fatalities. Really, a literature review on this theme suggests that a significant part of the incidents and fatalities within the light aviation that uses non-pressurized aircraft cabins are related to the human factor. This analysis might bring up a concealed but significant and worrying phenomenon in terms of flight safety: changes of pilot performance in the amendment of physiological parameters concerning to different pressure variations during the various flight stages. Flying is a reality that, although being used mostly for fast passenger and cargo transportation, also it is requested for leisure purposes by a very heterogeneous pool of pilots. This may be a concerning situation due to the disparity of human body (individual) reactions to flight conditions. Nature, both of environmental factors (like as pressure, temperature and humidity) or of human physiological behavior during different flight phases, is unpredictable. Therefore, it is very difficult to establish safety boundaries in this specific context. This work main objective is to analyze the influence of flight environmental conditions on pilot’s physiological parameters and thus on tasks performance during different flight situations (or scenarios). In order to perform this analysis a portable and ergonomic monitoring system was built. This equipment records both the cerebral oximetry to study the phenomenon of hypoxia and its importance, and electrocardiography (ECG) and electroencephalography (EEG) parameters in order to establish a correlation among pressure variations, amount of mental workload, and several individual physiological parameters during different flight stages. The specific purpose of this study is how to define physiological limits for each pilot, calibrated through simulation tests contemplating different flight scenarios, in order to create in the next future a on board alert system to prevent possible incidents and fatalities. Also we suggest potential restrictions on European pilots licensing legislation for light aviation, based on some physiological boundaries, as a positive contribution to a safer flight environment. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p860&r=tre |
| By: | Jos Van Ommeren; Giovanni Russo |
| Abstract: | According to economic theory, the price of parking must vary with the demand for this good. We study the economic consequences of not doing so by estimating the employees' parking demand at one organisation, which, rather uniquely, follows this recommendation. We estimate the effect of the employees' parking price on demand using an innovative difference-in-differences methodology. The deadweight loss generated by non-optimal pricing of parking is at least 9% of the parking resource costs. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p828&r=tre |
| By: | Eva Gutierrez-i-Puigarnau; Jos van Ommeren |
| Abstract: | One of the classic predictions of the urban economic theory is that high-income and low-income households choose different residential locations and therefore, conditional on workplace location, have different commuting patterns. Empirical tests of this theory are not standard, due to unobserved heterogeneity of workers, the presence of residential moving costs and a reverse causational relationship of income and distance. This study seeks to examine the long-run causal effect of household income on the workers’ commute. Using German panel data, our empirical approach entails analysing whether changes in household income lead households to locate farther from their workplace - or closer. In our study, we avoid the need of using instrumental variables to deal with endogenity of household income by observing that commuting may affect wages only when workers change job. Only selecting observations of individuals who keep the same employer and job over the observation period, ensures that an observed change in distance must be due to (exogenous) residence relocation. By formulating the model in terms of first differences, we deal with unobserved heterogeneity. In addition, we focus on changes which occur during a period of at least five years for workers who during this period moved residence at least once. In this way, we identify long-term effects, and avoid that due to the presence of residential moving costs, few workers immediately change commuting distance by moving residence. Our empirical study shows that the long-run income elasticity of commuting distance is positive and around 0.18. The estimated elasticities are higher for single wage-earners than for dual wage-earners, and higher for female workers than for male workers. At least for Germany, these results suggest, as workers tend to commute to workplace locations where land prices are higher, that the income elasticity for residential space exceeds the income elasticity for commuting costs. One of the main consequences of this study is then that in the absence of historic city centres amenities or other amenities close to workplace centres, rich households tend to move farther away from the city centre, as is observed in most US cities. This is in contrast to the results of the seminal paper by Wheaton (1977, AER) which states that the standard urban economics model accidentally does not explain variation in household income over space. Keywords: commuting, income elasticity, wage JEL codes: J3, R21 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p219&r=tre |
| By: | João Pedro Jardim; Maria Baltazar; Jorge Silva |
| Abstract: | Airport benchmarking depends on airport operational performance and efficiency indicators, which are important issues for business, operational management, regulatory agencies, airlines and passengers. There are several sets of single and complex indicators to evaluate airports performance and efficiency as well as several techniques to benchmark such infrastructures. The general aim of this work is the development of airport performance and efficiency predictive models using robust but flexible methodologies and incorporating simultaneously traditional indicators (number of movements and passengers, tons of cargo, number of runways and slots, area of terminals both of passenger and cargo) as well as new (emergent) constraints as ramp incidents and volcano ashes. Specifically this work: firstly shows the performance and efficiency evolution of a set of airports under several constraints based on two multidimensional tools, Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA, by the use of Macbeth - Measuring Attractiveness by a Categorical Based Evaluation Technique) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA); and secondly compares the obtained results either with Macbeth or with DEA. Whilst DEA is a linear programming based technique for measuring the relative performance of organizational units in the presence of multiple inputs and outputs, MCDA/Macbeth uses performance and efficiency indicators to support benchmark results, being useful to evaluate not only the real importance of the selected indicators but also its correct weight. This work is divided as follows: first, a state of the art review concerning airport operational performance and efficiency indicators, and DEA and MCDA tools and techniques; second, the impacts on airports operational performance and efficiency of emergent operational factors (ramp incidents) and sudden meteorological/natural phenomenon (volcano ashes); third, a study on the feasibility of the incorporation of such inputs in airport performance and efficiency predictive models; fourth, the presentation of some case studies concerning a set of selected airports; fifth, some insights and challenges about future research still under development. We believe that new models are needed to benchmark airports simultaneously based on scientific techniques robust but flexible to accommodate new (emerging) constraints and useful for those responsible for airport management in different processes of decision making. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p849&r=tre |
| By: | Andre Marques; Sara Zorro; LuÃs Patrão; Jorge Silva; Miguel Castelo-Branco |
| Abstract: | The majority of light aviation aircrafts cabins are unpressurised and this may pose risks for the safety of both pilots and passengers. As altitude increases partial oxygen pressure decreases and this situation may lead to early stages of hypoxia affecting pilot’s capabilities to perform simple tasks. These factors combined in several ways may affect significantly the capability of a pilot to conduct a safe flight. Some work has been developed in this area and results show that even small changes in altitude can decrease pilot’s oxygen level significantly. Thus, as pilot’s behaviour and flying capabilities are affected, flight safety is compromise too. This work is generally focused on the acquisition and study of flight operational and physiological data that may affect pilot’s capabilities and thus flight safety. To perform such objectives data acquired from the aircraft contains several items such as geographic coordinates, attitude, altitude, speed, g-load, heading, absolute pressure and temperature inside the cabin; also data acquired from the pilot contains several parameters such as cerebral oximetry, electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiography (ECG). As pilot’s own safety and comfort are important issues we developed a portable system that may be installed and operated in a safe and ergonomic way inside any light (small) aircraft cabin. Also this equipment is flexible enough so that it may be used inside a hypobaric chamber or in a flight simulator to test, prior a real flight, some specific pilot’s reactions to different flight scenarios. The specific objective of this paper is to report the acquisition, processing and monitoring of flight data collected directly and in real time from both the aircraft and the pilot, so it may be analysed to determine pilot’s major physiological changes facing different flight scenarios and the consequents alterations of his flying capabilities. Legislation for pilot licensing is quite similar all over Europe, and in practice it is not capable to prevent such in-flight individual performance problems. Taking in account the results of this work we also sustain the basis for a revision of the actual European legislation for pilot licensing, thus improving flight safety. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p854&r=tre |