|
on Transport Economics |
| By: | Nicholas Sheard (Aix-Marseille University (Aix-Marseille School of Economics), CNRS, & EHESS) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the effects of airports on economic growth in the local areas they serve, using data from US metropolitan areas. It applies a novel identification technique that uses the overall development of the air transport network to identify changes in airport size that are not influenced by local factors. Airport size is found to have positive effects on local employment with an elasticity of 0.02 and on GDP with an elasticity of 0.035. This means that for every job created at the airport by an exogenous increase in traffic, there are three jobs created outside of the airport. Airport size is also found to have positive effects on local wages and on the number of firms. In addition there is a positive effect on the employment rate, the magnitude of which suggests that around half of jobs created by airport expansion represent a net increase in the employment of existing residents, while half are taken up by workers who migrate to the area. |
| Keywords: | transportation infrastructure, air travel, urban growth |
| JEL: | H54 L93 R11 R42 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:1509&r=tre |
| By: | Tsubota, Kenmei |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the conventional assumption that bilateral transport costs are symmetric. We develop an economic geography model with transport sector in which asymmetric freight rates can occur as a result of density economies. Comparing this to models without density economies, we show that agglomeration of economic activities is more likely to emerge and that multiple equilibria can emerge for some parameters. Then we show the change in its bifurcation and stability of equilibrium and conclude that economies of density in transport flows can act as an agglomeration force. |
| Keywords: | Transportation, Economic geography, Costs, Agglomeration, Asymmetric transport costs, Directional imbalance of freight rates, Density economies |
| JEL: | L91 R12 R41 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper488&r=tre |
| By: | de Villemeur, Etienne; Ivaldi, Marc; Quinet, Emile; Urdanoz, Miguel |
| Abstract: | The so-called buffer time or buffer delay allows airlines to control for excessive delays by introducing extra time in their schedule in addition to what is technically required. . We study the differences between unregulated markets - where airlines are free to fix their buffer times strategically - and a situation where a social planner would control for time schedules, and in particular the buffer time. To do so, we use a calibrated model of a network of three cities - one of them being a hub - served by a single airline. Welfare losses that follow from delays are relatively small as compared to the potential benefits that would follow from a decrease in ticket prices. The model thus advocates that, at least for the connections that are considered, fares rather than delays should be the focus of institutions aiming at enhancing passengers’ welfare. |
| Keywords: | calibration; delays; social optimum |
| JEL: | L50 L93 R41 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10386&r=tre |
| By: | Börjesson, Maria; Fosgerau, Mogens |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how response times vary between unlabeled binary choice occasions in a stated choice (SC) experiment, with alternatives differing with respect to in-vehicle travel time and travel cost. The pattern of response times is interpreted as an indicator of the cognitive processes employed by the respondents when making their choices. We find clear signs of reference-dependence in response times in the form of a strong gain-loss asymmetry. Moreover, different patterns of response times for travel time and travel cost indicate that these attributes are processed in different ways by respondents. This may be of particular relevance for choice experiments in the transportation field, where the travel time attribute is central. |
| Keywords: | Response Times; Stated Choice; Data collection; Value of time |
| JEL: | C83 D87 R41 |
| Date: | 2015–02–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:62002&r=tre |
| By: | Remi Jedwab; Edward Kerby; Alexander Moradi |
| Abstract: | Little is known about the extent and forces of urban path dependence in developing countries. Railroad construction in colonial Kenya provides a natural experiment to study the emergence and persistence of this spatial equilibrium. Using new data at a fine spatial level over one century shows that colonial railroads causally determined the location of European settlers, which in turn decided the location of the main cities of the country at independence. Railroads declined and settlers left after independence, yet cities persisted. Their early emergence served as a mechanism to coordinate investments in the post-independence period, yielding evidence for how path dependence influences development. |
| Keywords: | Path Dependence, Urbanisation, Transportation, Colonialism |
| JEL: | R11 R12 R40 O18 N97 |
| Date: | 2014–01–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:wps/2014-04&r=tre |
| By: | Remi Jedwab; Alexander Moradi |
| Abstract: | What is the impact of modern transportation technology on long-run economic change in poor countries with high trade costs? Rail construction in colonial Sub-Saharan Africa provides a natural experiment: 90% of African rail-road lines were built before independence, in a context where headloading was the dominant transportation technology. Using new data on railroads and cities over one century within one country, Ghana, and Africa as a whole, we find large permanent effects of transportation technology on economic development. First, colonial railroads had strong effects on commercial agriculture and urban growth before independence. We exploit various identification strategies to ensure these effects are causal. Second, using the fact that African railroads fell largely out of use post-independence, due to mismanagement and lack of maintenance, we show that colonial railroads had a persistent impact on cities. While colonial sunk investments (e.g. schools, hospitals and roads) partly contributed to urban path dependence, evidence suggests that railroad cities persisted because their early emergence served as a mechanism to coordinate contemporary investments for each subsequent period. Railroad cities are also wealthier than non-railroad cities of similar sizes today. This suggests a world where shocks to economic geography can trigger an equilibrium in which cities will emerge to facilitate the accumulation of factors, and thus have long-term effects on economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Transportation Technology, Development, Path Dependence, growth |
| JEL: | R4 R1 O1 O3 N97 |
| Date: | 2013–11–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:wps/201-17&r=tre |
| By: | Habibi, Shiva (KTH); Frejinger, Emma (Université de Montréal); Sundberg, Marcus (KTH) |
| Abstract: | In the car type choice models, alternatives are usually grouped into categories by some of their main characteristics such as make, model, vintage, body type and/or fuel type. Each of these categories contains different versions of the cars that are usually not recognized in the applied literature. In this study we empirically investigate whether including the heterogeneity of these versions in the modeling do matter in estimation and prediction or not. We have detailed data on alternatives available on the market down to the versions level of each model which enables us to account for heterogeneity in the model. We also have Swedish car registry data as demand. We estimate different discrete choice models with different methods of correction for alternative aggregation including nesting structure. We estimate these models on based on year 2006 Swedish registry data for new cars, predict for 2007 and compare the results. The results show that including heterogeneity of cars' versions in the model improves model fitness but it does not necessarily improve prediction results. |
| Keywords: | Aggregate alternatives; Prediction; Car type choice; Discrete choice modeling; Clean vehicles |
| JEL: | R40 |
| Date: | 2015–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2015_003&r=tre |
| By: | Sperling, Dan |
| Keywords: | Architecture, Arts and Humanities, Engineering, Law |
| Date: | 2014–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:uctcwp:qt2r09g4k3&r=tre |
| By: | Ivaldi, Marc; Petrova, Milena; Urdanoz, Miguel |
| Abstract: | Motivated by the higher price sensitivity and service homogenisation in the airline industry in recent years, we propose a new methodology to deal with transaction prices and to estimate the effect of alliances in the US domestic market. The assumption that airlines compete on price allows us to take advantage of the observational equivalence between Bertrand competition and the reverse English auction. We then apply an MLE method, developed by Paarsch (1997) for estimating auctions, to recover the distributional characteristics of air fares using a sample of airline tickets from the US domestic market. This procedure allows us to benefit from the heterogeneity of individual prices while most studies have used average prices, which would have involved a loss of information and a potential bias. We find that an alliance operating in a market is associated with prices on average 18.9 percent higher. Additionally, we find the standard deviation of ticket prices to be 4.3 percent higher, which is likely related to more effcient revenue management practice by alliance partners operating together in the same market. |
| Keywords: | airfares; airlines; alliances |
| JEL: | L40 L93 R48 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10384&r=tre |
| By: | KANO Kazuko; KANO Takashi; TAKECHI Kazutaka |
| Abstract: | Transport costs are generally attributable to price differentials across geographically separated regions. However, when using price differential data, the identification of distance-elastic transport costs depends on how producers handle transport costs and set prices in remote markets. To address this problem, we adopt a nonhomothetic preference framework with heterogeneous producers. We show that the presence of nonhomothetic preferences is important in causing producer heterogeneity to alter individual pricing behavior depending on market conditions, a property absent in the constant elasticity of substitution heterogeneity framework. This also exhibits the property that producers do not fully pass on the increase in transport costs. By not accounting for these features, the distance elasticity of transport costs is underestimated. However, by incorporating these features in our model and using empirical analysis and microlevel data, we reveal that the distance effect is significantly large, suggesting that the price of geographic barriers for regional transportation is high. |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:15017&r=tre |
| By: | Øglend, Atle (UiS); Osmundsen, Petter (UiS); Kleppe, Tore Selland (UiS) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the economic value of trade when prices of transportation services are endogenous to cross-market price spreads. This is relevant for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. LNG transportation capacity is limited in the short-run, and long lead-times are involved in extending the transportation infrastructure. We establish empirically that LNG transportation costs have been endogenous to regional gas prices spreads. As such, transportation service providers have been able to capture part of the price spread. We proceed to develop a method to value LNG exports under conditions of endogenous transportation costs and market integration. We use this method to quantify the effect of endogenous transportation costs on the value of LNG exports from the US to Japan. Our analysis shows that when transportation costs are correctly treated as endogenous, the LNG export benefit can drop by as much as 20-50% relative to the case of exogenous cost. |
| Keywords: | LNG; natural gas; export; trade policy |
| JEL: | F13 Q27 Q48 |
| Date: | 2015–02–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:stavef:2015_005&r=tre |
| By: | David, Alexandra; Terstriep, Judith; Welschhoff, Jessica |
| Abstract: | The improvement and sustainability of urban transport systems is a necessity for quality of life, wellbeing and safety of citizens. Germany, France, Norway, the UK, the Netherlands and Sweden are anticipated to be the top six European countries for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) on the road in 2020. In total 4 regional and 24 national electromobility-related RTDI policy measures have been identified for Austria, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Germany and Switzerland, comprising top-down and bottom-up initiatives. Research-driven clusters (RDCs) entail a high potential to stimulate electromobility-related RTDI activities at the regional level and increase the competitiveness of regional economies. Electromobility is expected to become a central topic in several regions. Hence, it is even more important for regions engaging in this field to specialise. "Smart Specialisation Strategies" (S3) can be viewed as promising approach for "specialised diversification" that exploits the economies derived from related variety. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iatfor:22015&r=tre |
| By: | Dupuis, Nicolas; Ivaldi, Marc; Pouyet, Jérôme |
| Abstract: | We study the welfare impact of revenue management, i.e. intertemporal price discrimination when the product availability is limited both in time and quantity, and consumers' arrival is random. This practice is particularly relevant, and widely spread, in the transport industry, but little is known about its implications on profits and consumer surplus. We develop a theoretical model of revenue management allowing for heterogeneity in product characteristics, capacity constraints, consumer preferences, and probabilities of arrival. We also introduce dynamic competition between revenue managers. We solve this model computationally and recover the optimal pricing strategies. We find that revenue management is welfare enhancing. Revenue managers face two types of constraints: a limited booking period and fixed capacities. Previous sales affect the relative slackness of these two constraints, explaining price variations. Profits increase as the practice offers more leeway to the seller compared to posting a fixed price throughout the booking period. Total consumer surplus also increases for a wide range of specifications, as revenue management raises the number of sales. In the presence of heterogeneous consumers, consumers with low price sensitivity subsidize ones with high price sensitivity when demand is low but both types benefit from the practice when demand is high. This sheds some light on the impact of revenue management on the surplus of business and leisure passengers. |
| Keywords: | revenue management, transport fares, intertemporal price discrimination, dynamic computational models. |
| JEL: | C63 R41 |
| Date: | 2015–01–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:28868&r=tre |
| By: | Cortinhal, M. J.; Lopes, M. J.; Melo, M. T. |
| Abstract: | We address the problem of designing/redesigning a multi-echelon logistics network over a multi-period planning horizon. Strategic decisions comprise opening new plants and warehouses at candidate sites and selecting their capacities from a set of available discrete sizes. Capacity expansion may occur more than once over the time horizon both at new locations and at existing facilities. Capacity contraction is a viable option as well that involves closing existing plants and/or warehouses. The operation of the network is also subject to logistics decisions involving supplier selection in conjunction with procurement, production, and distribution of multiple products. Distribution channels are to be identified in each time period as well as the modes of transportation for raw materials and end products. Finally, a strategic choice between in-house manufacturing and a mixed approach with product outsourcing is to be taken. We propose a mixed-integer linear programming model and develop several valid inequalities to enhance the original formulation. To gain insight into the complexity of the problem at hand, an extensive computational study is performed with randomly generated instances that are solved with standard mathematical optimization software. Useful managerial insights are derived from varying several parameters and analyzing the impact of different business strategies on various segments of the logistics network. |
| Keywords: | logistics network design/re-design,multiple periods,transportation mode selection,product outsourcing,mixed-integer linear programming |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:htwlog:7&r=tre |
| By: | Kimbrough, Gray (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The journey between work and home plays an important role in daily time use, acting as both a fixed time cost of labor force participation and as a constraint on time for other activities. Data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) offer the opportunity to examine commuting behavior and its relationship to demographics, labor market characteristics, and the amount of time spent on other activities. Previous analyses have been complicated by the difficulties of obtaining commuting time measures from the ATUS. Travel information can be difficult to interpret in the ATUS, and many commuting trips are likely misclassified using stock measures of work-related travel. To address this shortcoming, I review the strategies of previous researchers to reclassify travel. After surveying possible methodologies, I focus on applying to the ATUS a methodology applied to the National Household Transportation Survey (NHTS). Detailed time information in the NHTS allows me to compare both aggregate commuting measures and the timing of commuting in the two surveys. I further extend the analysis to compare to journey-to-work information in another commonly used dataset, the American Community Survey. These comparisons and the methodology provided serve to enable and validate further analysis of commuting behavior using the ATUS, leveraging the advantages of this dataset. |
| Keywords: | commuting; time use; travel behavior |
| JEL: | C81 R41 |
| Date: | 2015–01–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2015_002&r=tre |
| By: | Sengupta, Ramprasad (Jawaharlal Nehru University); Mukherjee, Sacchidananda (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy); Gupta, Manish (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy) |
| Abstract: | This study looks into various sources of financing infrastructure and the demands for infrastructure investments and highlights the mismatch between demand and supply of funds for infrastructure financing in India. In order to address this mismatch, and given the constraints of traditional sources of infrastructure finance in India, this paper suggests credit enhancement scheme (CES) as an alternative framework for mobilizing long-term infrastructure finance. It suggests for scaling up CES as one of the options for leveraging global finance for long-term investment in infrastructure projects. The suggested scheme of credit enhancement could be scaled up at the G-20 level for mobilizing finance from sources which were earlier shying away from investing in infrastructure projects (e.g., pension and insurance fund). This study also suggests a possible structure for operationalizing this scheme at the G-20 level. The proposed scheme is not specific to G-20 countries, but could be used by other countries (including developing countries which have low sovereign ratings) to leverage long term finance for infrastructure sector. |
| Keywords: | Infrastructure finance ; Demand for infrastructure investment ; Credit Enhancement Scheme ; Sovereign risk rating ; G-20 ; India |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:npf:wpaper:15/144&r=tre |
| By: | Dallinger, David; Kohrs, Robert; Mierau, Michael; Marwitz, Simon; Wesche, Julius |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how plug-in electric vehicles can be managed to balance the fluctuation of renewable electricity sources. In this context, different control strategies are introduced. To investigate indirect control via electricity tariffs, an electricity market analysis is conducted of a system with a high share of generation from renewable electricity sources. The analysis uses driving data collected from battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in a research project which means that real charging and driving behavior can be considered. The results show that it is difficult to implement smart charging based on economic arguments because the incentives from day-ahead electricity markets are relatively small. In addition, a novel, autonomous control approach is discussed for plug-in electric vehicles. While measuring the voltage at the grid connection point, plug-in electric vehicles are able to fully independently generate operation schedules that can avoid load peaks and integrate fluctuating power outputs from distributed renewable generation sources. The results reveal that combining indirect, price-based control to consider the system level with autonomous voltage-based control to consider the situation in distribution grids is a very promising control approach that allows electric vehicles to benefit from sustainable renewable generation and avoids load peaks due to simultaneous charging. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisisi:s42015&r=tre |
| By: | Laingo M. Randrianarisoa; Denis Bolduc; Yap Yin Choo; Tae H.Oum; Jia Yan |
| Abstract: | The effect of corruption on airport productive efficiency is analyzed using an unbalanced panel data of major European airports from 2003 to 2009. We first compute the residual (or net) variable factor productivity using the multilateral index number method and then apply robust cluster random effects model in order to evaluate the importance of corruption. We find strong evidence that corruption has negative impacts on airport operating efficiency; and the effects depend on the ownership form of the airport. The results suggest that airports under mixed public-private ownership with private majority achieve lower levels of efficiency when located in more corrupt countries. They even operate less efficiently than fully and/or majority government owned airports in high corruption environment. We control for economic regulation, competition level and other airports’ characteristics. Our empirical results survive several robustness checks including different control variables, three alternative corruption measures: International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) corruption index, Corruption Perception Index (CPI) and Control of Corruption Index (CCI). The empirical findings have important policy implications for management and ownership structuring of airports operating in countries that suffer from higher levels of corruption. |
| Keywords: | Corruption effect, European airport operating efficiency, Residual (or net) variable factor productivity, Ownership form, Random effects model |
| JEL: | L93 R40 H00 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:creacr:2015-1&r=tre |
| By: | Heuermann, Daniel F.; Schmieder, Johannes F. |
| Abstract: | Local returns to scale in the labor market have been notoriously difficult to disentangle from increasing returns in the product market and from the spatial sorting of workers and firms as a source for regional variation in productivity. In this paper we use the introduction of high-speed rail as a natural experiment in order to isolate the impact of labor market size on urban wages from product market and sorting effects. The key idea underlying our identification approach is that high-speed trains reduce commuting times between regions and thereby effectively increase the size of local labor markets without directly affecting product markets. The exact timing of the opening of high-speed rail connections can be regarded as exogenous, as a high-speed rail network is very expensive to build, requires a long planning phase and is mainly the result of political decisions. Furthermore, especially in the second wave of network expansion, several small towns were connected to the high-speed rail network simply because of their location between major metropolitan hubs and in this way got 'lucky' compared to neighboring towns. Drawing on a large and novel panel data set on the introduction of ICE-stations and on connection times between regions in Germany, as well as on a full sample of workers' employment histories, we examine the effect of high-speed trains on commuting behavior and wages. Using case studies, a pooled event study, and gravity equations with instrumental variables and propensity score matching we show that high-speed trains reduce traveling times by sixteen percent on average and significantly raise the number of commuters between local labor markets. We find that commuters incur wage gains of about three percent after the opening of an ICE-station, indicating that improved access to larger urban labor markets is associated with productivity gains for workers living in peripheral regions. In sum, our results suggest that between one third and half of overall agglomeration externalities are rooted in increasing returns to scale in local labor markets. |
| JEL: | J31 R12 R42 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc14:100293&r=tre |
| By: | Hornung, Erik |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of railroad access on urban population growth. Using GIS techniques, we match triennial population data for roughly 1,000 cities in nineteenth-century Prussia to georeferenced maps of the German railroad network. We find positive short- and long-term effects of having a station on urban growth for different periods during 1840--1871. Causal effects of (potentially endogenous) railroad access on city growth are identified using propensity score matching, instrumental variables, and fixed-effects estimation techniques. Our instrument identifies exogenous variation in railroad access by constructing straight-line corridors between nodes. Counterfactual models using pre-railroad growth yield no evidence to support the hypothesis that railroads appeared as a consequence of a previous growth spurt. |
| JEL: | O18 O33 N73 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc14:100589&r=tre |