|
on Transport Economics |
| By: | Bianka Dettmer (Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena); Andreas Freytag (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena); Peter Draper (South African Institute of International Affairs) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we develop a methodology which is based on two important criteria - sensitivity in delivery time and value-to-weight ratio - to classify products relevant for air transport. Detailed trade data by mode of transport are used to check the loading of an average airplane between South Africa and the European Union. The product classification is applied to evaluate the potential for air cargo transport in Southern Africa. We find that especially export of products with high and medium air cargo relevance grew much faster than exports of bulky goods and non air cargo products. South Africa's most prominent export products to industrialized countries consist of diamonds, gold and platinum (HS71) which, however, are so precious that they tend to be transported in the hand baggage of a business or security person, because they leave the loading weight of an average airplane almost unaffected. When correcting South Africa's trade for these 'invisible outliers' in the loading freight we find that South Africa exports a much larger share of products with high air cargo relevance to its SADC partners than to industrialized countries. The results indicate that air cargo seems to be valuable option to overcome trade barriers associated with poor land transport infrastructure and corruption. |
| Keywords: | Trade cost, time sensitivity, air transport, intra-African trade |
| JEL: | F10 F14 F15 L93 |
| Date: | 2013–04–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2013-018&r=tre |
| By: | Rusich, Andrea; Danielis, Romeo (University of Trieste, Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the total private and social cost of seven cars (the gasoline VW Polo, the diesel Ford Fiesta, the CNG Fiat Punto Evo Natural Power, the LPG Alfa Romeo MiTo, the Hybrid Toyota Yaris, the BEV with leased-battery Renault Zoe and the BEV Peugeot iOn.), making use of the Italian data with reference to the vehicles’ purchase and maintenance costs, fuel and electricity costs, energy mix, pollution and noise costs. Among the selected cars, the diesel Ford Fiesta currently performs best from the private and social cost as well as energy consumption point of view. From the social point of view, both the Toyota Yaris (Hybrid) and the Alfa R. MiTo (bi-fuel LPG) perform as well as the BEVs, and the absolute difference with the conventional fuel cars is quite small. A scenario analysis is also performed to evaluate how the cars’ ranking is affected by how many years a car is kept, by how many kilometers per year a car is driven, by the subsidies enacted by the Italian government, by an increase in the price of fuel and by a decrease in the price of the batteries. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sit:wpaper:13_01&r=tre |
| By: | Gillanders, Robert |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationship between corruption and infrastructure at both the country and regional level using the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys data. A statistically significant and considerable relationship is established between the measure of corruption in the macro data and the measures of transportation and electricity infrastructure. Countries with more corruption tend to have worse infrastructure in the eyes of their firms. This link is shown to remain when one uses other measures of corruption and after controlling for GDP per capita, institutional quality and land area. At the regional level, the key result is unchanged. The magnitude and significance of this result is shown to vary by global region. Two stage least squares results, using distance from the equator as an instrument at the macro level support the simple OLS results and allow us to have some confidence that the causality runs from corruption to infrastructure. Finally, it is shown that within country variation in corruption has a significant effect on regional infrastructure. |
| Keywords: | Corruption, infrastructure, cross country, regional variation |
| JEL: | D73 H54 O18 |
| Date: | 2013–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:46679&r=tre |
| By: | Arthur Foch (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | This paper questions the determinants of infrastructure privatization in Djibouti and seeks to explain why this policy is still implemented today. Through case studies, the paper analyses the privatization processes of the port, electricity, and railway sectors. The paper shows that privatization has four major determinants: the presence of favourable contingent elements; the presence of political interests; the extent to which the contractual arrangements conform to government expectations, and the existence of alternative solutions. Furthermore, the paper explains that privatization is still considered today because the change of its target makes the interests of the government, donors, and private investors compatible. |
| Keywords: | Privatization, infrastructure, determinants, impacts, Djibouti. |
| JEL: | F23 F33 F35 H54 H82 L33 O17 O55 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:13036&r=tre |
| By: | Vanovermeire Ch.; Vercruysse D.; Sörensen K. |
| Abstract: | In collaborative transport, dividing the total cost of the coalition between its different partners is a key issue. However, as each coalition has its own set of preferences and has partners with different characteristics, a cost allocation method suitable in all situations does not exist. In this paper, a set of cost allocation methods, some academic, some used in practice, are evaluated in different situations. We investigate how well these methods behave when partners have different characteristics. E.g., when one partner ships a much larger volume than the others, it is very likely that this partner does not agree to allocate costs according to the volume of each partner. We show which cost allocation methods suce in which situations, showing that a right cost allocation is highly dependent on the characteristics of the coalition. |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ant:wpaper:2013009&r=tre |