|
on Transport Economics |
| By: | David Austin |
| Abstract: | Although freight transport contributes significantly to the productivity of the U.S. economy, it also involves sizable costs to society. Those costs include wear and tear on roads and bridges; delays caused by traffic congestion; injuries, fatalities, and property damage from accidents; and harmful effects from exhaust emissions. No one pays those external costs directly—neither freight haulers, nor shippers, nor consumers. The unpriced external costs of transporting freight by truck (per ton-mile) are around eight times higher than by rail; those costs net of existing taxes represent about |
| JEL: | H23 Q58 R40 R48 |
| Date: | 2015–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbo:wpaper:50049&r=tre |
| By: | Reyer Gerlagh (Tilburg University, Netherlands); Inge van den Bijgaart (Tilburg University, Netherlands); Hans Nijland (PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Netherlands); Thomas Michielsen (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | T o what extent have national fiscal policies contributed to the decarbonisation of newly sold passenger cars? We construct a simple model that generates predictions regarding the effect of fiscal policies on average CO2 emissions of new cars, and then test the model empirically. Our empirical strategy combines a diverse series of data. First, we use a large database of vehicle-specific taxes in 15 EU countries over 2001-2010 to construct a measure for the vehicle registration and annual road tax levels, and separately, for the CO2 sensitivity of these taxes. We find that for many countries the fiscal policies have become more sensitive to CO2 emissions of new cars. We then use these constructed measures to estimate the effect of fiscal policies on the CO2 emissions of the new car fleet. The increased CO2-sensitivity of registration taxes have reduced the CO2 emission intensity of the average new car by 1,3 percent, partly through an induced increase of the share of diesel-fuelled cars by 6,5 percentage points. Higher fuel taxes lead to the purchase of more fuel efficient cars, but higher annual road taxes have no or an adverse effect. |
| Keywords: | Vehicle Registration Taxes, Fuel Taxes, CO2 Emissions |
| JEL: | H30 L62 Q48 Q54 Q58 R48 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.32&r=tre |
| By: | Iimi,Atsushi; Lancelot,Eric R.; Manelici,Isabela; Ogita,Satoshi |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to provide feedback on the question of socioeconomic benefits from rural road development and the impact of transport infrastructure on the poor, particularly the poorest and the bottom 20 percent of the population. This paper relies on impact evaluation methodologies, which are traditionally used in social sectors but less so in the transport sector. The study, including first surveys, was launched in 2003 under the Tocantins Sustainable Regional Development Project. The paper highlights the context that led to the project?s design, which included an impact evaluation of the works envisaged under the project. The paper also highlights some of the main challenges faced by this impact evaluation and how these challenges were addressed for the present study. It then provides details about the data collected during the surveys and the key relevant characteristics of the population targeted by the surveys. It discusses the possible estimation methods envisioned to undertake the study and provides the main results of the assessment based on these methods. The analysis shows that improved rural roads changed people?s transport modal choice. People used more public buses and individual motorized vehicles after the rural road improvements. The paper also finds that the project increased school attendance, particularly for girls. Although the evidence is relatively weak in statistical terms, it indicates that the project contributed to increasing agricultural jobs and household income in certain regions. |
| Keywords: | Regional Economic Development,Roads and Highways Performance,Regional Rural Development,Rural Roads&Transport,Transport Economics Policy&Planning |
| Date: | 2015–04–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7249&r=tre |
| By: | Francisco J. Bahamonde-Birke; Tibor Hanappi |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the impact of the introduction of electromobility in Austria, focusing specifically on the potential demand for electric vehicles in the automotive market. We estimate discrete choice behavioral mixture models considering latent variables; these allows us to deal with this potential demand as well as to analyze the effect of different attributes of the alternatives over the potential market penetration. We find out that some usual assumptions regarding electromobilityalso hold for the Austrian market (e.g. proclivity of green-minded people and reluctance of older individuals), while others are only partially valid (e.g. the power of the engine is not relevant for purely electric vehicles). Along the same line, it was possible to establish that some policy incentives would have a positive effect over the demand for electrical cars, while others - such as an annual Park and Ride subscription or a one-year-ticket for public transportation - would not increase thewillingness-to-pay for electromobility. Our work suggests the existence of reliability thresholds, concerning the availability of charging stations. Finally this paper enunciates and successfully tests an alternative approach to address unreported information regarding income in presence of endogeneity and multiple information sources. |
| Keywords: | Electromobility, electric vehicles, Hybrid discrete choice model, latent variables, unreported income |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1472&r=tre |
| By: | Congressional Budget Office |
| Abstract: | Public spending on transportation and water infrastructure totaled $416 billion in 2014; about one-quarter of that spending came from the federal government. Adjusted to remove the effects of inflation in the prices of materials and other inputs, public purchases of infrastructure fell by 9 percent from their peak in 2003 to their 2014 level. That decline occurred almost exclusively within the category of capital purchases, which fell by 23 percent after adjusting for inflation. |
| JEL: | H54 H76 R42 R53 |
| Date: | 2015–03–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbo:report:49910&r=tre |
| By: | Bart Roets; Johan Christiaens (-) |
| Abstract: | tba |
| Keywords: | tba |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:15/904&r=tre |
| By: | Simon Franklin |
| Abstract: | Do high costs of search affect the labour market outcomes of young job seekers living far away from the centre of cities? I randomly assign temporary and non-fungible transport subsidies to unemployed youth living in spatially dislocated areas of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Lowering transport costs increases the intensity of job search (during and after treatment), and increases the likelihood of finding permanent employment by 6 percentage points in the short run. Analysis of weekly phone call data show that search activity declines over time but the subsidies prevent this from happening in the treatment group. The subsidies reduce participation in temporary and informal work, suggesting an important role for alternative sources of income to support job seekers. I explain these results with a dynamic model of job search with savings, cash constraints and monetary search costs. The predictions of the model are quantitatively consistent with the estimated impacts on increased job search activity, and in turn the rates at which jobs are found. These results suggest that the cost of transport in large cities can lead to frictions in the matching of firms and workers and reinforce spatial inequality. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2015-11&r=tre |