|
on Transport Economics |
| By: | Miquel-Ángel Garcia-López (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona & IEB); Ilias Pasidis (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB); Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides evidence for the causal effect of the highway and railway infrastructure on the suburbanization of population in European cities. We adopt different measures of transportation infrastructure and estimate their joint effects on suburbanization using a two-step panel approach. Our main results suggest that an additional highway ray displaced approximately 4% of the central city population in European cities over a 10-year period, whereas we find no significant effect for the railways on average. However, railways did cause suburbanization those located in Central-North Europe. When employing the full time span covered by our data and accounting for the diversity of European cities, we find a smaller effect of highways on suburbanization during more recent decades and for “cities with history”. Factors such as historical urban amenities, traffic congestion, urban policies etc. appear to provide reasonable explanations for these differences. The findings of this paper are novel and provide valuable insights for European regional and transport policies. |
| Keywords: | Suburbanization, transportation, Europe |
| JEL: | R4 R2 O4 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2015-30&r=tre |
| By: | Davide Fiorello (Trt); Loredana Zani (Trt) |
| Abstract: | The main purpose of the survey was to collect data on car use, on use of transport modes for long distance mobility as well as on some other policy relevant issues (e.g. the attitude towards internalisation of road external costs by means of road charging). The survey involved all the 28 European countries. In each country a sample of 1000 individuals (500 in Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta) was asked to fill in a questionnaire divided into four sections: a. general information on the respondent (e.g. age, gender, living area) as well as details on availability of cars and public transport service. b. information on everyday mobility in terms of mode used, frequency of trips, duration, distance, inter-modality and opinions on main problems experienced. c. information long distance trips (between 300 km and 1000 km as well as over 1000 km) made in the last 12 months; number of trips by purpose and main mode; connections between rail and air transport. d. opinions on aspects related to the European transport policy and especially on the scope for road charging. |
| Keywords: | transport, user survey, mobility, urban, public transport |
| JEL: | L90 L99 R23 R40 R49 |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc96151&r=tre |
| By: | Huber, Hans |
| Abstract: | The paper examines multi-dimensional patterns of network characteristics for scheduled Indian airlines between 2006 and 2014. The well-known skewed traffic distribution which concentrates traffic around relatively few hub airports serves as the starting point for decomposing the air traffic system (ATS) into its constituent route types. Operations of distinct airlines along these route classes allows for classifying carrier’s network features as an embedded part of the system. Discussion of the carriers’ role in the overall domestic ATS includes a spatial component. Inferences about development paths – past, present, future – of the Indian scheduled ATS can be made. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:13759&r=tre |
| By: | Tamas Fleischer (Institute of World Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Although the intention of developing a common transport policy was mooted in the early stages of the European Communities, it took the form in practice of regulation of isolated transport activities, with the aim in every case of removing advantages inadmissible in competitionpolicy terms. Only in the 1980s were the sights raised from such institutional matters to that of developing corridors between regions on a continental scale. This period brought the Union’s first White Paper on transport, under the motto “a single network for the single market”, aimed principally at removing regulatory, institutional and physical barriers to links between member-states. The next White Paper, appearing in 2001, displayed a strong change of outlook with enhanced attention to environmental constraints. The main demand was for curbs on traffic volume, including a decrease in the proportion of road transport. The 2006 revision of the 2001 White Paper marked a significant departure from the progressive change of outlook that had been initiated, leading to a serious degree of backtracking and reformulation of aims. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iwe:workpr:193&r=tre |
| By: | Judith Green; Alasdair Jones; Helen Roberts |
| Abstract: | This study contributes to the literature on mobility and wellbeing at older ages through an empirical exploration of the meanings of free bus travel for older citizens, addressing the meanings this holds for older people in urban settings, which have been under-researched. Taking London as a case study, where older citizens have free access to a relatively extensive public transport network through a Freedom Pass, we explore from a public health perspective the mechanisms that link this travel benefit to determinants of wellbeing. In addition to the ways in which the Freedom Pass enabled access to health-related goods and services, it provided less tangible benefits. Travelling by bus provided opportunities for meaningful social interaction; travelling as part of the ‘general public’ provided a sense of belonging and visibility in the public arena – a socially acceptable way of tackling chronic loneliness. The Freedom Pass was described not only as providing access to essential goods and services but also as a widely prized mechanism for participation in life in the city. We argue that the mechanisms linking mobility and wellbeing are culturally, materially and politically specific. Our data suggest that in contexts where good public transport is available as a right, and bus travel not stigmatised, it is experienced as a major contributor to wellbeing, rather than a transport choice of last resort. This has implications for other jurisdictions working on accessible transport for older citizens and, more broadly, improving the sustainability of cities. |
| Keywords: | bus travel; loneliness; mobility; wellbeing |
| JEL: | L91 L96 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:64155&r=tre |
| By: | ISHIKAWA, Jota; TARUI, Nori |
| Abstract: | Trade barriers due to transport costs are as large as those due to tariffs. This paper explicitly incorporates the transport sector into the framework of international oligopoly and studies the effects of trade and industrial policies. Transport firms need to commit to a shipping capacity sufficient for a round trip, with a possible imbalance of shipping volumes in two directions. Because of this "backhaul problem", trade restrictions may backfire: domestic import restrictions may also decrease domestic exports, possibly harming domestic firms and benefiting foreign firms. In addition, trade policy in one sector may affect other independent sectors. |
| Keywords: | Transport firm, transport cost, trade policy, industrial policy, international oligopoly |
| JEL: | F12 F13 R40 |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hiasdp:hias-e-12&r=tre |
| By: | Ebata, Ayako; Pacheco, Pamela Alejandra; Cramon-Taubadel, Stephan von |
| Abstract: | While smallholder marketing is seen effective to reduce poverty, farmers in rural areas face a number of challenges in doing so. One of the most important factors is transaction costs related to transportation. Our study quantifies the benefits associated with improvement of rural road infrastructure by scrutinizing farm-gate prices of beans in rural Nicaragua. We find that the longer the distance and traveling time are to major commercial centers from farming communities, the less farm-gate prices producers receive. We find that a decrease in distance and traveling time by one unit is associated with an increase in farm-gate prices by 2-2.5 cents/qq. If infrastructure development can reduce travel time by 25%, an average farm household would increase its annual revenue from beans by between $24 and $110 (3% and 12% of annual revenue). Given that such infrastructure development affects all farmers and crops, our findings suggest a larger implication. |
| Keywords: | Producer prices, Central America, Transactions costs, transportation infrastructure, Agribusiness, Farm Management, Financial Economics, O13, O18, Q11, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:211582&r=tre |
| By: | Ana Condeco-Melhorado (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Aris Christodoulou (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Panayotis Christidis (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | This guide provides regions with information and guidelines useful for the development of smart specialisation strategies (RIS3) in transport. The guide follows the six steps for Smart Specialization with a special focus in transport. The six steps include the analysis of the regional context and potential for innovation, the discussion of governance structure, the development of a shared vision about the future of the region, approaches for the selection of transport related priorities for regional development, policy mixes and options for the integration of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. The recommended process consists of a bottom-up analysis of regional capabilities of the industry and scientific community that needs to be aligned with national and European objectives. At the European level, the Strategic Transport Technological Plan (STTP) identifies ten innovation areas that will be extremely important for the future competitiveness of the transport sector. The guide also analyses different innovation area in the context of RIS3 methodology, showing specific examples and roadmaps on how these could be implemented in the regional innovation strategies. Finally tools are offered to analyse the innovation potential, performance and priorities in the transport sector, such as data and indicators regarding regional transport innovation, as well as methodologies to analyse innovation capabilities of European regions. |
| Keywords: | transport, industry, competitiveness, research |
| JEL: | L90 L99 R23 R40 R49 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc96777&r=tre |
| By: | Tibor Besedes (Department of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology); Matthew T. Cole (Department of Economics, California Polytechnic State University) |
| Abstract: | It is quite common in the trade literature to use iceberg transport costs to represent variable trade barriers, both tariffs and shipping costs alike. However, in models with monopolistic competition these are, in fact, not identical trade restrictions. This difference is not driven by tariff revenue but by how the two trade costs affect firm profits and the extensive margin. We illustrate these differences in a gravity model `a la Chaney (2008). We show theoretically that trade flows are more elastic with respect to ad valorem tariffs than transport costs and find a linear relationship between the elasticities with respect to ad valorem tariffs, iceberg transport costs, and fixed market costs. We empirically validate these results using data on U.S. product-level imports. |
| Keywords: | Gravity, firm heterogeneity, monopolistic competition |
| JEL: | F12 F13 F17 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpl:wpaper:1506&r=tre |
| By: | Cristina Félix Pereira (Aluna Doutoramento, Departamento de Gestão, Universidade de Évora); Ana Sampaio (Departamento de Matemática, Universidade de Évora); Fátima Jorge (Departamento de Gestão, Universidade de Évora) |
| Abstract: | Air navigation safety culture has been associated with organizational internal communication. The main objective of this study is to assess the hypothesized tri-dimensionality of Safety-Related Internal Communication (SRIC), in the context of High Reliability Organization’s (HRO) safety culture framework, as is the case of the Portuguese Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP). So, and through an extensive literature review, Team Communication (TC), Management Communication (MC) and Safety Self-Attitude (SSA), have been identified as forming the first-order factor structure of the underlying second-order SRIC dimension. To examine whether the implementation of a second-order CFA model for the factorial validity of SRIC is feasible, 207 valid answers have been obtained through the submission, from June 2013 to December 2013, of a questionnaire to the operational staff from three different aeronautical careers in a previously selected European ANSP. In a first stage, maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results confirmed that, the proposed first-order structure reflected three distinctive aspects of SRIC dimension and, in a second stage, that the higher-order SRIC structure had an adequate fit to the data. Findings also confirmed that all constructs had good psychometric properties of convergent and discriminant validity. Results were also confirmed through a cross validation procedure. |
| Keywords: | Safety culture; Internal communication; Air navigation services; Confirmatory factor analysis |
| JEL: | R41 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2015_09&r=tre |
| By: | Anna Goodman; Alasdair Jones; Helen Roberts; Rebecca Steinbach; Judith Green |
| Abstract: | This paper uses qualitative data from interviews with 118 young Londoners (age 12–18) to examine how the universal provision of free bus travel has affected young people’s independent mobility. Drawing on Sen’s capabilities approach, we argue that free bus travel enhanced young Londoners’ capabilities to shape their daily mobility, both directly by increasing financial access and indirectly by facilitating the acquisition of the necessary skills, travelling companions and confidence. These capabilities in turn extended both opportunity freedoms (e.g. facilitating non-‘necessary’ recreational and social trips) and process freedoms (e.g. feeling more independent by decreasing reliance on parents). Moreover, the universal nature of the entitlement rendered buses a socially inclusive way for groups to travel and spend time together, thereby enhancing group-level capabilities. We believe this attention to individual and group capabilities for self-determination provides the basis for a broader and more child-centred view of independent mobility than the typical research focus upon travelling without an adult and acquiring parental permissions |
| Keywords: | independent mobility; children; adolescents; bus; free travel; London |
| JEL: | L91 L96 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:64157&r=tre |