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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Montag, Josef |
| Abstract: | The volume of pollution produced by an automobile is determined by driver's behavior along three margins: (i) vehicle selection, (ii) kilometers driven, and (iii) on-road fuel economy. The first two margins have been studied extensively, however the third has received scant attention. How significant is this 'intensive margin'? What would be the optimal policies when it is taken into account? The paper develops and analyzes a simple model of the technical and behavioral mechanisms that determine the volume emissions produced by a car. The results show that an optimal fuel tax would provide drivers with appropriate incentives along all three margins and that only public information is needed for a fuel tax to be set optimally. In contrast, an optimal distance tax would require private information. Lastly, relative to the optimal fuel tax, a simple uniform fuel tax is shown to be progressive. Thus, being already deployed worldwide, a uniform fuel tax is an attractive second-best policy. These findings should be accounted for when designing new mechanisms to alleviate motor vehicle pollution. |
| Keywords: | automobile externalities, car pollution, CO2 emissions, fuel economy, driving behavior, distance tax, fuel tax. |
| JEL: | H23 Q58 R41 R48 |
| Date: | 2015–05–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64524&r=tre |
| By: | Ali,Rubaba; Barra,Alvaro Federico; Berg,Claudia N.; Damania,Richard; Nash,John D.; Russ,Jason Daniel |
| Abstract: | Transport infrastructure is deemed to be central to development and consumes a large fraction of the development assistance envelope. Yet there is debate about the economic impact of road projects. This paper proposes an approach to assess the differential development impacts of alternative road construction and prioritize various proposals, using Nigeria as a case study. Recognizing that there is no perfect measure of economic well-being, a variety of outcome metrics are used, including crop revenue, livestock revenue, non-agricultural income, the probability of being multi-dimensionally poor, and local gross domestic product for Nigeria. Although the measure of transport is the most accurate possible, it is still endogenous because of the nonrandom placement of road infrastructure. This endogeneity is addressed using a seemingly novel instrumental variable termed the natural path: the time it would take to walk along the most logical route connecting two points without taking into account other, bias-causing economic benefits. Further, the analysis considers the potential endogeneity from nonrandom placement of households and markets through carefully chosen control variables. It finds that reducing transportation costs in Nigeria will increase crop revenue, non-agricultural income, the wealth index, and local gross domestic product. Livestock sales increase as well, although this finding is less robust. The probability of being multi-dimensionally poor will decrease. The results also cast light on income diversification and structural changes that may arise. These findings are robust to relaxing the exclusion restriction. The paper also demonstrates how to prioritize alternative road programs by comparing the expected development impacts of alternative New Partnership for Africa's Development projects. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory&Research,Roads and Highways Performance,Rural Roads&Transport,Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Banks&Banking Reform |
| Date: | 2015–05–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7271&r=tre |
| By: | Anders Skonhoft (Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | As a result of generous policies to increase the use of electric vehicles (EVs), the sales of EVs in Norway are rapidly increasing. This in sharp contrast to most other rich countries without such generous policies. Due to the subsidies, driving an EV implies very low costs to the owner on the margin, probably leading to more driving at the expense of public transport and cycling. Moreover, because most EVs’ driving range is low, the policy gives households incentives to purchase a second car, again stimulating the use of private cars instead of public transport and cycling. These effects are analysed in light of possible greenhouse gas (GHG) emission benefits as well as other possible benefits of utilizing EVs versus conventional cars. We discuss whether the EV policy can be justified, as well as whether this policy should be implemented by other countries. |
| Date: | 2014–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nst:samfok:15714&r=tre |
| By: | Ali,Rubaba; Barra,Alvaro Federico; Berg,Claudia N.; Damania,Richard; Nash,John D.; Russ,Jason Daniel |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses an old and recurring theme in development economics: the slow adoption of new technologies by farmers in many developing countries. The paper explores a somewhat novel link to explain this puzzle -- the link between market access and the incentives to adopt a new technology when there are non-convexities. The paper develops a theoretical model to guide the empirical analysis, which uses spatially disaggregated agricultural production data from Spatial Production Allocation Model and Living Standards Measurement Study survey data for Nigeria. The model is used to estimate the impact of transport costs on crop production, the adoption of modern technologies, and the differential impact on returns of modern versus traditional farmers. To overcome the limitation of data availability on travel costs for much of Africa, road survey data are combined with geographic information road network data to generate the most thorough and accurate road network available. With these data and the Highway Development Management Model, minimum travel costs from each location to the market are computed. Consistent with the theory, analysis finds that transportation costs are critical in determining technology choices, with a greater responsiveness among farmers who adopt modern technologies, and at times a perverse (negative) response to lower transport costs among those who employ more traditional techniques. In sum, the paper presents compelling evidence that the constraints to the adoption of modern technologies and access to markets are interconnected, and so should be targeted jointly. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory&Research,Agricultural Knowledgeand Information Systems,Technology Industry,Transport Economics Policy&Planning,ICT Policy and Strategies |
| Date: | 2015–05–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7272&r=tre |
| By: | Ali,Rubaba; Barra,Alvaro Federico; Berg,Claudia N.; Damania,Richard; Nash,John D.; Russ,Jason Daniel |
| Abstract: | In conflict-prone situations, access to markets is necessary to restore economic growth and generate the preconditions for peace and reconstruction. Hence, the rehabilitation of damaged transport infrastructure has emerged as an overarching investment priority among donors and governments. This paper brings together two distinct strands of literature on the effects of conflict on welfare and on the economic impact of transport infrastructure. The theoretical model explores how transport infrastructure affects conflict incidence and welfare when selection into rebel groups is endogenous. The implications of the model are tested with data from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The analysis addresses the problems of the endogeneity of transport costs and conflict using a novel set of instrumental variables. For transport costs, a new instrument is developed, the"natural-historical path,"which measures the most efficient travel route to a market, taking into account topography, land cover, and historical caravan routes. Recognizing the imprecision in measuring the geographic impacts of conflict, the analysis develops a spatial kernel density function to proxy for the incidence of conflict. To account for its endogeneity, it is instrumented with ethnic fractionalization and distance to the eastern border. A variety of indicators of well-being are used: a wealth index, a poverty index, and local gross domestic product. The results suggest that, in most situations, reducing transport costs has the expected beneficial impacts on all the measures of welfare. However, when there is intense conflict, improvements in infrastructure may not have the anticipated benefits. The results suggest the need for more nuanced strategies that take into account varying circumstances and consider actions that jointly target governance with construction activities. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory&Research,Rural Poverty Reduction,Armed Conflict,Post Conflict Reconstruction,Transport Economics Policy&Planning |
| Date: | 2015–05–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7273&r=tre |
| By: | Wouter Zant (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | We measure the impact of low cost transport by rail in Malawi on the dispersion of agricultural commodities prices across markets, by exploiting the quasi experimental design of the nearly total collapse of domestic trade by rail in January 2003, due to the destruction of a railway bridge at Rivirivi, Balaka. Market pairs connected by rail when the railway line was operational, are intervention observations. Estimations are based on monthly market prices of four agricultural commodities (maize, groundnuts, rice and beans), in 27 local markets, for the period 1998-2006. Railway transport services explain a 11% to 18% reduction in price dispersion across markets. Geographical reach of trade varies by crop, most likely related to storability and geographical spread of production. Perishability appears to increase impact reflecting the lack of intertemporal arbitrage. Overall, impacts are, however, remarkably similar in size across commodities. |
| Keywords: | trade; crop prices; transaction costs; rail infrastructure; Malawi; sub Saharan Africa |
| JEL: | F14 N77 O13 O18 O55 Q13 |
| Date: | 2015–05–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20150055&r=tre |
| By: | Bell, Margaret; Bergantino, Angela S.; Catalano, Mario; Galatioto, Fabio |
| Abstract: | This paper illustrates the first results of an ongoing research for developing novel methods to analyse and simulate the relationship between trasport-related air pollutant concentrations and easily accessible explanatory variables. The final scope of the analysis is to integrate the new models in traditional traffic management decision-support systems for a sustainable mobility of road vehicles in urban areas. This first stage concerns the relationship between the mean hourly concentration of nitrogen dioxide and explanatory factors like traffic and weather conditions, with particular reference to the prediction of pollution peaks, defined as exceedances of normative concentration limits. Two modelling frameworks are explored: the Artificial Neural Network approach and the ARIMAX model. Furthermore, the benefit of a synergic use of both models for air quality forecasting is investigated. The analysis of findings points out that the prediction of extreme pollutant concentrations is best performed by the integration of the two models into an ensemble. The neural network is outperformed by the ARIMAX model in foreseeing peaks, but gives a more realistic representation of the relationships between concentration and wind characteristics. So, it can be exploited to direct the ARIMAX model specification. At last, the study shows that the ability at forecasting exceedances of pollution regulative limits can be enhanced by requiring traffic management actions when the predicted concentration exceeds a threshold that is pretty high but lower than the normative one. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sit:wpaper:15_06&r=tre |
| By: | Jeremy West; Mark Hoekstra; Jonathan Meer; Steven L. Puller |
| Abstract: | A major concern with addressing the negative externalities of gasoline consumption by regulating fuel economy, rather than increasing fuel taxes, is that households respond by driving more. This paper exploits a discrete threshold in the eligibility for Cash for Clunkers to show that fuel economy restrictions lead households to purchase vehicles that have lower cost-per-mile, but are also smaller and lower-performance. Whereas the former effect can increase driving, the latter effect can reduce it. Results indicate these households do not drive more, suggesting that behavioral responses do not necessarily undermine the effectiveness of fuel economy restrictions at reducing gasoline consumption. |
| JEL: | L91 Q41 Q48 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21194&r=tre |
| By: | Valeria Bernardo (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Joan-Ramon Borrell (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Jordi Perdiguero (Faculty of Economics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a game of strategic interaction to simulate entry and location of fast charging stations for electric vehicles. It evaluates the equilibria obtained in terms of social welfare and firm spatial differentiation. Using Barcelona mobility survey, demographic data and the street graph we find that only at an electric vehicle penetration rate above 3% does a dense network of stations appear as the equilibrium outcome of a market with no fiscal transfers. We also find that price competition drives location differentiation measured not only in Euclidean distances but also in consumer travel distances. |
| Keywords: | Regional Planning; Electric Vehicle; Fast Charging; Games of Strategic Interaction; Entry Models JEL classification: Q48, Q58, L13, L43, R53 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201513&r=tre |
| By: | Nagendra Dwivedi; Rajesh Mehrotra |
| Abstract: | Purchasing a car can be a normal decision for some, but can be a very special decision for others. Of the many attributes a car signifies, aesthetics is one of the most significant while making a decision. Colour of a car has been rated as a very important attribute as per studies carried by various agencies so far. The objective of the study is to highlight importance of colour in selecting a vehicle and finding a correlation between influence of personality traits of a person and his choice of colour. It has also been seen that the purchase decision is dependent on Aesthetic orientation of a person which is in turn dependent on personality traits. So the study tries to find the dependence of colour on both personality as well as aesthetic orientation. Methodology deployed for the study is surveying 214 people of different backgrounds and questioning them on the basis of a questionnaire, and mapping their behaviour basis the responses and generating a pattern for understanding choice of colour dependent on the personality traits and aesthetic orientation. The study performed first detected the personality traits of a person, and hence aesthetic orientation was defined. It was largely seen that personality traits are very significant in determining the colour preference, but linking it to aesthetic orientation gave results which were better linked to colour choices. The study was carried basis age groups, gender, and MHI. In the study a strong correlation was found and a scale was designed mapping color of car basis the personality traits of a person. Key words: Personality Dimensions, CAD, Aesthetic Orientation, Colour Choice |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vor:issues:2015-03-18&r=tre |
| By: | Damania,Richard; Wheeler,David J. |
| Abstract: | Road construction has often been viewed as the precursor to deforestation, especially in tropical forests. Traditional responses to such threats have been reactive, with attempts to mitigate impacts through physical measures, or the establishment of protected areas. These approaches often have not been entirely successful, especially in areas where economic potential is significant. This paper seeks to mitigate such conflicts by proposing a proactive approach to development planning and environmental policy. It develops a high-resolution spatial model of road improvement impacts that includes ecological risks and the economics of forest clearing. The approach is implemented by estimating the potential impact of road upgrading on forest clearing and biodiversity in eight Congo Basin countries. The paper demonstrates how the detailed analysis can identify areas of high ecological priority as well as areas at high risk of forest loss. The paper contributes to several aspects of the literature. First, it provides the most recent and reliable estimates of the drivers of deforestation in the Congo Basin, with the latest high-resolution satellite data on forest cover changes. Second, it presents novel estimates of biodiversity threats by creating an index that combines and synthesizes several measures of biodiversity loss and impacts. It then develops an empirical framework for estimating the ecological impacts of road improvement. Finally, the paper illustrates how the empirical framework can be used to preempt impacts and avoid potential ecological damage. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change and Environment,Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Ecosystems and Natural Habitats,Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases,Wildlife Resources |
| Date: | 2015–05–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7274&r=tre |
| By: | Marta Kad (Czestochowa University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | The paper discusses the problem of innovation and innovativeness in the field of logistics. Changeability and dynamics of the market bring about that, for modern enterprises, an increasingly noticeable need arises to replace the solutions of the evolutionary nature, applied so far (such as verification, evolution and constant adjustment) with innovative solutions of the revolutionary nature. Therefore, in logistics, there appeared the necessity to not only react quickly at the proper place and time but to search for and implement modern, innovative solutions and concepts. The need for innovation exists both in the field of the whole logistics systems and individual management areas such as: warehousing, distribution and transport etc. The main objective of the paper is to present logistics as the field where innovation plays a very important role by depicting the theoretical aspects of the selected views of the representatives of the world of science with reference to this thematic area and reviewing the results of rankings of modern and innovative solutions in the field of logistics. There have been characterized the concepts of innovation and innovativeness and there has been indicated their essence in the business activity. Subsequently, this problem has been referred to the area of modern logistics as the field being the source of new potentials and providing enterprises with an increase in the effectiveness of functioning. There have also been given the examples of innovative solutions, the most important ones from the perspective of the selected theoreticians of the subject and the practitioners of the logistics activity according to the ranking results. As a result of the analysis of the listed summaries there has been determined the specificity of the innovative solutions applied in the field of logistics. |
| Keywords: | logistics, innovativeness, innovation, logistics innovativeness, innovative product |
| JEL: | O31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003984&r=tre |