nep-tre New Economics Papers
on Transport Economics
Issue of 2012‒12‒15
six papers chosen by
Erik Teodoor Verhoef
VU University Amsterdam
  1. Using vehicle taxes to reduce carbon dioxide emissions rates of new passenger vehicles: evidence from France, Germany, and Sweden By Thomas H. Klier; Joshua Linn
  2. Gasoline Prices, Fuel Economy, and the Energy Paradox By Hunt Allcott; Nathan Wozny
  3. The Impact of Private Participation in Infrastructure in Developing Countries: Taking Stock of about 20 Years of Experience By Antonio Estache; Caroline Philippe
  4. Governance of road infrastructure in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo By Kambale Mirembe, Omer
  5. On games arising from multi-depot Chinese postman problems By Platz, Trine Tornøe; Hamers, Herbert
  6. Chartering practices in liner shipping By Pierre Cariou; François-Charles Wolff
  1. By: Thomas H. Klier; Joshua Linn
    Abstract: France, Germany, and Sweden have recently linked vehicle taxes to the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions rates of passenger vehicles. France has introduced a system of CO2-based purchase taxes and subsidies, whereas Germany and Sweden impose annual circulation (i.e., registration) taxes that are linear functions of CO2 emissions rates. This paper (a) compares the effects of vehicle taxes on registrations and average emissions rates across countries and (b) estimates the effect of reducing CO2 emissions rates on manufacturers’ profits. The taxes have had a significant negative short-run effect on new vehicle registrations in all three countries, although the effect is somewhat stronger in France than in Germany and Sweden. We find little evidence that the French tax caused manufacturers to change the emissions rates of individual vehicles, however. The second part of the paper takes advantage of the theoretical equivalence between an emissions rate standard and a CO2-based emissions rate tax. We use the results from the first part to estimate the effect on manufacturers’ profits of reducing emissions rates. Focusing on France, a decrease of 5 grams of CO2 per kilometer (about 3 percent) reduces short-run profits by 10–50 euros per vehicle, depending on the manufacturer. We find considerable heterogeneity across manufactures in these costs.
    Keywords: Carbon dioxide ; Emissions trading ; Euro
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-2012-09&r=tre
  2. By: Hunt Allcott; Nathan Wozny
    Abstract: It is often asserted that consumers undervalue future gasoline costs relative to purchase prices when they choose between automobiles, or equivalently that they have high "implied discount rates" for these future energy costs. We show how this can be tested by measuring whether relative prices of vehicles with different fuel economy ratings fully adjust to time series variation in gasoline price forecasts. We then test the model using a detailed dataset based on 86 million transactions at auto dealerships and wholesale auctions between 1999 and 2008. Over our base sample, vehicle prices move as if consumers are indifferent between one dollar in discounted future gas costs and only 76 cents in vehicle purchase price. We document how endogenous market shares and utilization, measurement error, and different gasoline price forecasts can affect the results, and we show how to address these issues empirically. We also provide unique empirical evidence of sticky information: vehicle markets respond to changes in gasoline prices with up to a six month delay.
    JEL: D03 D12 L62 Q41
    Date: 2012–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18583&r=tre
  3. By: Antonio Estache; Caroline Philippe
    Date: 2012–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/133537&r=tre
  4. By: Kambale Mirembe, Omer
    Abstract: During the 1960s and 1970s, many African states chose a means of infrastructure development that was focused largely on the public sector. However, the debt crisis, the substandard performance of public enterprises and poor governance caused many of them to experience socio-economic failure. During the 1980s, proposed recovery solutions included a significant reduction in public expenditure, resulting in a reduction or even suspension of the production of certain public goods and services.
    Keywords: Congo; Infrastructure; Kivu; DRC
    Date: 2012–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iob:wpaper:2012010&r=tre
  5. By: Platz, Trine Tornøe (Department of Business and Economics); Hamers, Herbert (Department of Econometrics & OR and CentER)
    Abstract: This paper introduces cooperative games arising from multi-depot Chinese postman problems and explores the properties of these games. A multi-depot Chinese postman problem (MDCP) is represented by a connected (di)graph G, a set of k depots that is a subset of the vertices of G, and a non-negative weight function on the edges of G. A solution to the MDCP is a minimum weight tour of the (di)graph that visits all edges (arcs) of the graph and that consists of a collection of subtours such that the subtours originate from different depots, and each subtour starts and ends at the same depot. A cooperative Chinese postman (CP) game is induced by a MDCP by associating every edge of the graph with a different player. This paper characterizes globally and locally k-CP balanced and submodular (di)graphs. A (di)graph G is called globally (locally) k-CP balanced (respectively submodular), if the induced CP game of the corresponding MDCP problem on G is balanced (respectively submodular) for any (some) choice of the locations of the k depots and every non-negative weight function.
    Keywords: Chinese postman problem; cooperative game; submodularity; balancedness
    JEL: C71
    Date: 2012–12–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sdueko:2012_024&r=tre
  6. By: Pierre Cariou (Euromed Marseille - École de management - Association Euromed Management - Marseille); François-Charles Wolff (LEMNA - Laboratoire d'économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique - Université de Nantes : EA4272)
    Abstract: Chartering rather than owning a vessel is a recurrent question for liner operators. This article aims at identifying the extent of such chartering practices, the characteristics of vessels chartered and if an impact on liner profitability can be found. To do so, an initial dataset collected in 2009 on 510 liner operators and 5,005 vessels is used. Results from random effect Probit models point out first that chartering rates are not different between small and large operators. Furthermore, findings suggest that chartering of small and young vessels is more common and that chartering rates have increased for companies subject to higher fleet growth from 2007 to 2009. An analysis using a fixed effect Logit model on intra-fleet management of 17 selected liner companies further stresses that larger companies have chartered more small vessels during the last 2 years, a result that may be explain by the need to allocate the financing to new larger vessels. We then study whether the chartering rate and the size of these 17 liner companies have had an influence on their observed profitability in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Our results suggest that those variables impact profitability, but in variable ways over time.
    Keywords: Liner shipping, chartering, profitability
    Date: 2012–12–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00760989&r=tre
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