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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Mauro Pisu |
| Abstract: | Costa Rica's transport infrastructure sector has long suffered from insufficient and ineffective investment and maintenance spending, resulting in a congested and poor-quality transport network. Public spending has been below the OECD average and private sector participation is limited. The road network is extensive but of poor quality, railways are in disrepair and only slowly being reactivated after having been shut down in the 1990s, seaports quality and capacity are deficient. Internal transportation overly relies on private road vehicles as the public transport system, especially railways, is inadequate. As a result, the transport sector is the major source of greenhouse emissions. Major challenges hindering the sector performance are: excessive institutional fragmentation, which reduces transparency and accountability of public sector agencies, poor strategic planning, which results in haphazard infrastructure development and poor intermodal connections, aversion to private sector participation and absence of an infrastructure-project pipeline, which discourage private investment, poor project preparation and slow project execution due to no cost benefit analyses, unclear project selection criteria and insufficient stakeholder engagement. This working paper relates to the 2016 OECD Economic Survey of Costa Rica (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/economic-survey-costa-rica.htm). Une vue globale de l'infrastructure de transport du Costa Rica Le secteur des infrastructures de transport du Costa Rica a longtemps souffert des insuffisantes et inefficaces dépenses d'investissement et de maintenance, qui ont déterminé un réseau de transport congestionné et de mauvaise qualité. Les dépenses publiques ont été en dessous de la moyenne de l'OCDE et la participation du secteur privé est limitée. Le réseau routier est vaste, mais de mauvaise qualité, les chemins de fer sont en mauvais état et sont en train d'être lentement réactivé, après avoir été arrêté dans les années 1990, la qualité et capacité des ports maritimes sont insuffisant. Le transport interne repose excessivement sur les véhicules routiers privés puisque le système de transport public, en particulier les chemins de fer, est peu développé. Par conséquent, le secteur des transports est la principale source des émissions à effet de serre. Les défis majeurs qui entravent la performance du secteur sont: la excessive fragmentation institutionnelle, ce qui réduit la transparence et la responsabilité des organismes publics, une mauvaise planification stratégique, qui se traduit par un développement désordonné des infrastructures et des liaisons intermodales insuffisantes, l'aversion à la participation du secteur privé et l'absence d'une liste des projets d'infrastructure, qui découragent l'investissement privé, la faible qualité de la préparation des projets et leur exécutions lent en raison de la manque d'analyses coûts avantages, des critères flous pour la sélection des projets et engagement des parties prenantes insuffisantes. Ce Document de travail se rapporte à l’Étude économique de l’OCDE de Costa Rica 2016 (www.oecd.org/fr/eco/etudes/etude-econom ique-costa-rica.htm). |
| Keywords: | economic development, transport, PPPs, investment, infrastructure, PPPs, investissement, développement économique, transport, infrastructure |
| JEL: | H54 L91 L98 O18 Q58 R28 R40 |
| Date: | 2016–08–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1323-en&r=tre |
| By: | Berliant, Marcus; Watanabe, Hiroki |
| Abstract: | Zipf’s law is one of the best-known empirical regularities in urban economics. There is extensive research on the subject, where each city is treated symmetrically in terms of the cost of transactions with other cities. Recent developments in network theory facilitate the examination of an asymmetric transport network. In a scale-free network, the chance of observing extremes in network connections becomes higher than the Gaussian distribution predicts and therefore it explains the emergence of large clusters. The city-size distribution shares the same pattern. This paper decodes how accessibility of a city to other cities on the transportation network can boost its local economy and explains the city-size distribution as a result of its underlying transportation network structure. Finally, we discuss the endogenous evolution of transport networks. |
| Keywords: | Zipf’s law; city-size distribution; scale-free network |
| JEL: | L14 R12 R40 |
| Date: | 2016–07–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:72790&r=tre |
| By: | Anderson, D. Mark (Montana State University); Sandholt, Sina (Columbia University) |
| Abstract: | In an effort to increase booster seat use among children, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is encouraging state legislators to promote stricter booster seat laws, yet there is a paucity of information on booster seat efficacy relative to other forms of restraint. Using data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System for the period 2008-2014 and the sample selection correction proposed by Levitt and Porter (2001), the current study examines the effectiveness of booster seats relative to child safety seats and adult seat belts. For children 6 to 8 years of age, we find that booster seats are more than twice as effective as child safety seats and over 30 percent more effective than standard seat belts at decreasing the likelihood of fatality in a motor vehicle accident. For children 2 to 5 years of age, all three forms of restraint appear equally effective. |
| Keywords: | booster seats, child safety seats, traffic fatalities |
| JEL: | I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10071&r=tre |
| By: | Koralova, Petya |
| Abstract: | River Danube is an international inland waterway that is part of the Rhine – Danube Core Network Corridor. The favorable geographic location of Slovakia and Bulgaria, as well as their outlet on the River Danube, are key factors for the insurance of better transport and trade relations among West of Europe and Middle East. In this regard, the main objective of the report is to reveal the perspectives for development of the trade relations between both countries via inland waterway transport. For that purpose, a review of the status quo of Bulgarian and Slovak ports is made, as well as an analysis of the cargo turnover, export, import and balances of trades of the countries. As a conclusion, the results of the current research are summarized. |
| Keywords: | trade relations, inland waterway transport, cargo turnover |
| JEL: | F16 |
| Date: | 2015–12–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:72763&r=tre |
| By: | Mogens, Fosgerau |
| Abstract: | This note develops a model of product differentiation that can be estimated using standard regression techniques and applies it to a panel data set of new car sales. The model allows for complex substitution patterns according to an overlapping nest structure that makes cars closer substitutes if the share brand, body type, and/or quality level. A nest comprising all the car alternatives ensure that they are closer substitutes with each other than with the outside good. In addition, the model comprises fixed effects by car model, controlling for unobserved car quality. |
| Keywords: | Market shares; complex substitution; endogeneity; discrete choice; new cars |
| JEL: | C23 C25 C26 D12 L62 |
| Date: | 2016–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:72786&r=tre |
| By: | Russell Pittman (Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice) |
| Abstract: | Voting trust arrangements have a long history at both the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Surface Transportation Board as devices to protect the incentives of acquiring firms and maintain the independence of acquiring and target firms during the pendency of regulatory investigation of the merger proposal |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:doj:eagpap:201603&r=tre |
| By: | Aghion, Philippe; Dechezleprêtre, Antoine; Hemous, David; Martin, Ralf; Van Reenen, John |
| Abstract: | Can directed technical change be used to combat climate change? We construct new firm-level panel data on auto industry innovation distinguishing between "dirty" (internal combustion engine) and "clean" (e.g. electric and hybrid) patents across 80 countries over several decades. We show that firms tend to innovate relatively more in clean technologies when they face higher tax-inclusive fuel prices. Furthermore, there is path dependence in the type of innovation both from aggregate spillovers and from the firm's own innovation history. Using our model we simulate the increases in carbon taxes needed to allow clean to overtake dirty technologies. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hrv:faseco:27759048&r=tre |