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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Martijn I. Dr�es (VU University Amsterdam); Piet Rietveld† (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of railway travel on urban spatial structure in a polycentric urban land use model. We focus on the role of access to the railway network. We find that if the number of train stations is limited, the degree of urbanization is higher around train stations, but the effect of railway travel on road congestion is small. By contrast, if train stations are omnipresent there is little effect on urban spatial structure, but a considerable decrease in congestion. With regard to the supply of train stations, these findings suggest that there is an important policy trade-off between congestion and urbanization. |
| Keywords: | general equilibrium; public transport; land use model; railway; sorting |
| JEL: | C68 D58 R13 R14 R4 |
| Date: | 2014–04–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20140050&r=tre |
| By: | Alexandros Dimitropoulos; Jos N. van Ommeren; Paul Koster; and Piet Rietveld† (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an approach for the estimation of welfare effects of tax policy changes under heterogeneity in consumer preferences. The approach is applied to evaluate the welfare effects of current tax advantages for electric vehicles supplied as fringe benefits by employers. Drawing on stated preferences of Dutch company car drivers, we assess the short-run welfare effects of changes in the taxation of the private use of these vehicles. We find that the welfare gain of a marginal increase in the taxation of electric company cars is substantial and even outweighs the marginal tax revenue raised. |
| Keywords: | Social welfare, Latent class, Stated preference, Company car, Electric vehicle, Plug-in hybrid |
| JEL: | D12 H23 H24 H31 O33 Q58 R41 |
| Date: | 2014–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20140064&r=tre |
| By: | Claude Mathys (National Bank of Belgium, Microeconomic Information Department) |
| Abstract: | This paper is an annual publication issued by the Microeconomic Analysis service of the National Bank of Belgium. The Flemish maritime ports (Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, Zeebrugge), the Autonomous Port of Liège and the port of Brussels play a major role in their respective regional economies and in the Belgian economy, not only in terms of industrial activity but also as intermodal centers facilitating the commodity flow. This update paper provides an extensive overview of the economic importance and development of the Flemish maritime ports, the Liège port complex and the port of Brussels for the period 2007 - 2012, with an emphasis on 2012. Focusing on the three major variables of value added, employment and investment, the report also provides some information based on the social balance sheet and an overview of the financial situation in these ports as a whole. These observations are linked to a more general context, along with a few cargo statistics. Annual accounts data from the Central Balance Sheet Office were used for the calculation of direct effects, the study of financial ratios and the analysis of the social balance sheet. The indirect effects of the activities concerned were estimated in terms of value added and employment, on the basis of data from the National Accounts Institute. As a result of the underlying calculation method the changes of indirect employment and indirect value added can differ from one another. (...) Following the 2009 decline and the improvement in 2011, maritime traffic in the Flemish ports began falling again in 2012. That applies to all the Flemish ports. Value added was rising in the maritime cluster of the Flemish ports and falling in the non-maritime cluster where trade and industry were in decline. Direct value added has risen in the ports of Antwerp and Ostend whereas it has fallen in the ports of Zeebrugge and Ghent. Conversely, direct employment was expanding in both clusters in the Flemish ports viewed as a whole and in each port taken individually. The decline in investment in the Flemish ports continued in 2012. That trend is evident in all the Flemish ports except the port of Ostend where investment was maintained in 2012. The volume of cargo handled in the port of Liège decreased in 2012. Direct value added and employment contracted in both clusters. The steel giant ArcelorMittal had idled two blast furnaces at the site in Liege. Investment increased in both clusters in the Liège port complex. The volume of cargo handled at the port of Brussels declined in 2012. Value added and employment in the maritime cluster fell but rose in the non-maritime cluster. The drop in investment recorded since 2009 continued throughout 2012, albeit at a slowing pace. This report provides a comprehensive account of these issues, giving details for each economic sector, although the comments are confined to the main changes that occurred in 2012. |
| Keywords: | branch survey, maritime cluster, subcontracting, indirect effects, transport, intermodality, public investments |
| JEL: | C67 H57 J21 L22 L91 L92 R15 R34 R41 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:docwpp:201406-260&r=tre |
| By: | Tino Henke (Faculty of Economics and Management, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg); M. Grazia Speranza (Department of Quantitative, University of Brescia); Gerhard Wäscher (Faculty of Economics and Management, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, a capacitated vehicle routing problem is discussed which occurs in the context of glass waste collection. Supplies of several different product types (glass of different colors) are available at customer locations. The supplies have to be picked up at their locations and moved to a central depot at minimum cost. Different product types may be transported on the same vehicle, however, while being transported they must not be mixed. Technically this is enabled by a specific device, which allows for separating the capacity of each vehicle individually into a limited number of compartments where each compartment can accommodate one or several supplies of the same product type. For this problem, a model formulation and a variable neighborhood search algorithm for its solution are presented. The performance of the proposed heuristic is evaluated by means of extensive numerical experiments. Furthermore, the economic benefits of introducing compartments on the vehicles are investigated. |
| Keywords: | vehicle routing, multiple compartments, glass waste collection, variable neighborhood search, heuristics |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mag:wpaper:140006&r=tre |
| By: | Bird, Julia; Straub, Stephane |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of the rapid expansion of the Brazilian road network, which occurred from the 1960s to the 2000s, on the growth and spatial allocation of population and economic activity across the country's municipalities. It addresses the problem of endogeneity in infrastructure location by using an original empirical strategy, based on the"historical natural experiment"constituted by the creation of the new federal capital city Brasília in 1960. The results reveal a dual pattern, with improved transport connections increasing concentration of economic activity and population around the main centers in the South of the country, while spurring the emergence of secondary economic centers in the less developed North, in line with predictions in terms of agglomeration economies. Over the period, roads are shown to account for half of pcGDP growth and to spur a significant decrease in spatial inequality. |
| Keywords: | Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Economic Theory&Research,Population Policies,Corporate Law,Urban Slums Upgrading |
| Date: | 2014–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6964&r=tre |
| By: | Weerakoon, Dushni (Asian Development Bank Institute); Perera, Nipuni (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | Improving physical connectivity between South and Southeast Asia has long been recognized as a key element in promoting greater trade and investment linkages within the region. As an island economy, Sri Lanka's regional connectivity has been mainly through its main sea port in Colombo, a transshipment hub port for South Asia. Investments to expand capacity at Colombo port are underway as part of Sri Lanka's renewed efforts to develop its infrastructure following the long internal separatist conflict that ended in 2009. Despite significant improvements in physical infrastructure connectivity, Sri Lanka has made only limited headway in strengthening its trade and investment links with the rest of the region. Moreover, the country has seen a sharp decline in its overall exports-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, which is worrying in view of the growing external debt financing of many large infrastructure projects through state-led investment initiatives. Thus, Sri Lanka needs to focus on two priority areas: engaging private investment in infrastructure by strengthening the country's institutional and regulatory environment; and implementing a more strategic trade policy geared to enhance regional integration efforts. |
| Keywords: | connecting south asia and southeast; sri lankan economy; infrastructure; energy trade; regional trade flows; trade and transport administration |
| JEL: | F15 |
| Date: | 2014–07–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0487&r=tre |
| By: | Jungmittag, Andre |
| Abstract: | This paper applies combining forecasts of air travel demand generated from the same model but over different estimation windows. The combination approach used resorts to Pesaran and Pick (2011), but the empirical application is extended in several ways. The forecasts are based on a seasonal Box-Jenkins model (SARIMA), which is adequate to forecast monthly air travel demand with distinct seasonal patterns at the largest German airport Frankfurt am Main. Furthermore, forecasts with forecast horizons from one to twelve months-ahead, which are based on different average estimation windows, expanding windows and single rolling windows, are compared with baseline forecasts based on an expanding window of the observations after a structural break. The forecast exercise shows that the average window forecasts mostly outperform the alternative single window forecasts. -- |
| Keywords: | Air travel demand,Combination of forecasts,Estimation windows,Structural breaks |
| JEL: | C22 C53 L93 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fhfwps:05&r=tre |
| By: | Ruben van Loon (VU University Amsterdam); Tom Gosens (VU University Amsterdam); Jan Rouwendal (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Many cities are trying to attract tourists by investing in urban amenities. Cultural heritage is an important example and substantial investments are needed to keep ancient inner cities and characteristic monumental buildings in good shape. The costs of these policies are usually clear, the benefits are often much more difficult to assess. This paper attempts to fill part of this gap by studying the destination choices of urban recreation trips that have urban recreation as the main travel motive. We estimate a discrete choice model for destination choice that takes into account the potential importance of unobserved characteristics. The model allows us to compute the marginal willingness to travel for destinations offering more cultural heritage, which we measure as the area of the inner city that has a protected status because of the cultural heritage that is present there. |
| Keywords: | Cultural heritage, recreation, city marketing |
| JEL: | C31 D12 R12 R22 L83 |
| Date: | 2014–04–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20140049&r=tre |