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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Dütschke, Elisabeth; Schneider, Uta; Peters, Anja |
| Abstract: | Electric vehicles (EVs) are currently seen as an important means to make transport more sustainable; however, so far, only a few EVs are actually on the roads. This paper tries to identify likely early private users of EVs based on a narrative review of results from earlier studies by the authors. Two usage scenarios are analyzed: (1) the traditional model of car use where the EV is bought or leased by the household whose members drive the vehicle (individual usage), and (2) concepts where EVs are used as part of shared fleets (collective usage). Findings indicate that, for both scenarios, likely early users are highly educated middle-aged men. Those who live with their family in rural or suburban regions seem to be more interested in owning an EV; for those living in urban areas, carsharing might be an attractive alternative. Other likely user groups are also discussed in the paper. -- |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisisi:s62013&r=tre |
| By: | Bae, Yong-Kyun; Benitez-Silva, Hugo |
| Abstract: | Using data on correction rates for vehicle recalls in the United States from 2007 to 2010, we investigate information transmission from manufacturers to owners regarding the defects of recalled vehicles. We pay special attention to the role of the language manufacturers use to convey each recall's seriousness in the letters they send to owners to explain the nature of the defects in their vehicles, and the possible consequences if the defects are not fixed. We find that recalls linked to riskier defects, defined by the type of equipment affected in the vehicles, are associated with higher correction rates. Interestingly, the content of recall notification letters plays an important role in increasing correction rates because the letters convey information to owners above and beyond baseline information about which part of their vehicles can present problems. We also find that, in a number of cases, the language that manufacturers use to explain the risks to owners are worryingly milder than the descriptions the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) use, resulting in significantly lower correction rates. We conclude that information transmission to owners regarding recalls should be more clearly regulated since the language affects drivers' likelihood of taking their cars to be fixed. We advocate that the NHTSA return to the pre-2001 practice of assigning hazard levels to all recalls, and that the agency consider making sure manufacturers clearly communicate recall rating information to vehicle owners. Our results indicate that these practices would result in higher correction rates, remove faulty cars from the roads, and, consequently, save lives. |
| Keywords: | Safety Regulation, Vehicle Defects, Automobile Recalls, Transmission of Information, Consumer Behavior |
| JEL: | D01 L51 L62 |
| Date: | 2013–10–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:50380&r=tre |
| By: | Gianmarco León; Edward Miguel |
| Abstract: | This paper exploits an unusual transportation setting to estimate the value of a statistical life (VSL). We estimate the trade-offs individuals are willing to make between mortality risk and cost as they travel to and from the international airport in Sierra Leone (which is separated from the capital Freetown by a body of water). Travelers choose from among multiple transport options – namely, ferry, helicopter, hovercraft, and water taxi. The setting and original dataset allow us to address some typical omitted variable concerns in order to generate some of the first revealed preference VSL estimates from Africa. The data also allows us to compare VSL estimates for travelers from 56 countries, including 20 African and 36 non -African countries, all facing the same choice situation. The average VSL estimate for African travelers in the sample is US$577,000 compared to US$924,000 for non-Africans. Individual characteristics, particularly job earnings, can largely account for the difference between Africans and non-Africans ; Africans in the sample typically earn somewhat less. There is little evidence that individual VSL estimates are driven by a lack of information, predicted life expectancy, or cultural norms around risk-taking or fatalism. The data implies an income elasticity of the VSL of 1.77. These revealed preference VSL estimates from a developing country fill an important gap in the existing literature, and can be used for a variety of public policy purposes, including in current debates within Sierra Leone regarding the desirability of constructing new transportation infrastructure. |
| Keywords: | value of statistical life, risk taking behavior, Africa, Sierra Leone |
| JEL: | J17 O18 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:716&r=tre |
| By: | Ruth EVERS; Stefan PROOST |
| Abstract: | In this paper we optimize the regulation of an intersection of two routes connecting one origin-destination pair and study the effects of priority rules, traffic lights and tolls. We show that when the intersection is regulated by a priority rule the optimal policy is generally to block one of the two routes. When the intersection is regulated by traffic lights, it can only be optimal to leave both routes open when both routes are subject to congestion or if a toll is levied. |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:ceswps:ces13.17&r=tre |
| By: | Adrien Vogt-Schilb (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement [CIRAD] : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales [EHESS] - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - AgroParisTech); Céline Guivarch (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement [CIRAD] : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales [EHESS] - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - AgroParisTech); Jean-Charles Hourcade (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement [CIRAD] : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales [EHESS] - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - AgroParisTech) |
| Abstract: | La pertinence des véhicules électrifiés (VE) pour diminuer les émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES) est sujette à débat. De nombreuses études fondent le calcul des émissions kilométriques des VE sur le contenu carbone de l'électricité contemporaine. Nous proposons une évaluation qui mobilise une vision cohérente de l'évolution du système énergétique dans lequel les VE doivent s'insérer. Nous utilisons un modèle de simulation prospective pour produire des scénarios contrastés de l'évolution du contenu carbone de l'électricité européenne. Cet exercice suggère que si l'Europe choisit de mettre en place des politiques climatiques destinées à réduire drastiquement ses émissions de GES, le contenu carbone de l'électricité va diminuer rapidement, prolongeant sur le long terme l'avantage actuel des VE sur les véhicules classiques en termes d'émissions par kilomètre. |
| Date: | 2013–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00866450&r=tre |
| By: | Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt (London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) & Spatial Economics Research Centre (SERC)); Wolfgang Maennig (University of Hamburg) |
| Abstract: | We use a public referendum on a new air traffic concept in Berlin, Germany as a natural experiment to analyze how the interaction of tenure and capitalization effects shapes the outcome of direct democracy processes. We distinguish between homevoters, i.e., voters who are homeowners, and leasevoters, i.e., voters who lease their homes. We expect the former to be more likely to support or op-pose initiatives that positively or negatively affect the amenity value of a neighborhood because some of the related benefits or costs of the latter are neutralized by adjustments in market rents (capitalization). Our empirical results are in line with our theoretical expectations and imply that public votes on local public goods do not necessarily reflect the spatial distribution of welfare effects in mixed-tenure environments. |
| Keywords: | Referendum, homevoters, leasevoters, NIMBYism, rents, noise, airports, Berlin |
| JEL: | D61 D62 H41 H71 L83 I18 R41 R58 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2013/6/doc2013-15&r=tre |
| By: | Zsoka Koczan (University of Cambridge); Alexander Plekhanov (EBRD) |
| Abstract: | The paper provides an empirical analysis of the importance of infrastructure for bilateral trade flows using an augmented gravity model of trade. The estimates suggest that potential gains from improvements in infrastructure are large and far exceed the effects of lowering tariff barriers. Moreover, the effect of improving hard infrastructure on trade flows in a particular country increases with the quality of infrastructure of trading partners. Similar complementarity is observed for control of corruption, with a large asymmetry of effects, where institutions in the destination market seem to be considerably more important. |
| Keywords: | infrastructure, imports, exports, tariffs, regional integration |
| JEL: | F14 F15 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebd:wpaper:159&r=tre |
| By: | Bignon, V.; Esteves, R.; Herranz-Loncán, A. |
| Abstract: | Railways were one of the main engines of the Latin American trade boom before 1914. Railway construction often required financial support from local governments, which depended on their fiscal capacity. But since the main government revenues were trade-related, this generated a two-way feedback between government revenues and railways with a potential for multiple equilibria. The empirical tests in this paper support the hypothesis of a positive two-way relationship. The main implication of our analysis is that the build-up of state capacity was a necessary condition for railway expansion and, given the importance of the export sector in these economies, for economic growth and divergence in the region. |
| Keywords: | Railways; Latin America; Export growth; Government revenues. |
| JEL: | H54 N46 N76 O38 O54 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfr:banfra:447&r=tre |
| By: | Zheng, Xinye; Li, Fanghua; Song, Shunfeng; Yu, Yihua |
| Abstract: | This study employs spatial panel techniques to examine determinants of regional allocation of infrastructure investment made by the central government. Using a sample of 31 Chinese provinces over the 2001-2008 period, we derived four major empirical findings. First, there exist substantial spatial interactions of central government's investment across regions. Second, the central investment exhibits a highly persistent effect. Third, the central government attempts to balance equity and efficiency in its decision-making. Last, the political factor plays a significant role in the regional infrastructure investment. |
| Keywords: | Infrastructure investment; efficiency-equity tradeoff; spatial interaction |
| JEL: | C33 H54 R0 |
| Date: | 2013–10–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:50407&r=tre |
| By: | TOKUNAGA Suminori; OKIYAMA Mitsuru; AKUNE Yuko |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is first to analyze a negative supply shock due to "disrupted supply chains" caused by the earthquake and, secondly, to examine which of the policies to reconstruct the disaster-affected region is the most advisable way to proceed with the accumulation of the automotive industry. Using the two-regional computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, we initially found that had the alternative production at other plants been very easy, even if the production volume of motor vehicle parts in the disaster-stricken region were to decrease by twice as much, the negative impact of the production volume in the motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts industry of the other regions would be about the same as the alternative production at other plants had it been very difficult. On the other hand, had it been more difficult for the raw materials and the intermediate products manufactured in the low part of the pyramid structure to be provided by alternative production at other plants in the other regions, the production volume of motor vehicle parts in the disaster-stricken region would have decreased by more than that in plants in the low part of the pyramid structure. Second, we found that if we try to simulate the subsidies for the cluster of the automotive industry in the disaster-stricken region, such production activities in the pyramid structure of the automotive industry would have increased through financial assistance from the central government. The production volume of such industries would have not only increased further, but also the regional economy and total production volume in the disaster-stricken region would have improved and the automotive industries of the other regions would have received a positive impact. But after the financial assistance ended, we also found that the production volume of the automotive industry would have decreased further, and this production would have been floundering ever since. In light of the above points, we would expect that if the measure to reduce the corporate tax rate in the disaster-stricken region had been introduced by assigning a part of the tax revenues of the reconstruction special tax for 25 years after this year, the cluster of the automotive industry would develop continuously and contribute to the improvement of the regional economy in the disaster-stricken region. |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:13068&r=tre |
| By: | Horn, Henrik (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | Few EU decisions have caused more international outcry than the extension of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) to apply to aviation. The directive was legally challenged by US airlines before a UK court, which referred the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling concerning the compatibility of the directive with international law. This paper discusses the argumentation by the ECJ and the Advocate General from an economic perspective. Such an analysis is warranted in light of the fact that the contested measure is an economic regulation, the international laws that are invoked have clear economic objectives, and the ECJ judgment and the opinion by the Advocate General at least partly rely on economic concepts and mechanisms. An economic analysis also seems warranted from a legal point of view since the quality of the judgment and of the opinion presumably depend on the soundness of their economic reasoning. It is found that the argumentation by the legal authorities is highly questionable in important parts, when viewed from an economic perspective. |
| Keywords: | EJC decision on aviation; ETS; Border carbon adjustment |
| JEL: | K31 K32 L93 |
| Date: | 2013–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0980&r=tre |