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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Escañuela Romana, Ignacio |
| Abstract: | The object of this work is to estimate the price elasticity of demand for air transport of passengers in the United States, and review the adequacy of the various methods used to make a quantification of the elasticity of demand for a good or service. The problems to make a robust quantification of that value are classic and well-known. There are omitted variables, on both the demand and supply sides, and the problem of identifiability seems to be serious. The simple regression, which is the most common method, is analyzed. As well as the method of instrumental variables: using the price of oil. But the conclusion reached is that those procedures yield unreliable results. Through the quasi-experimental procedure, I get an estimate of the price elasticity of demand, with the drawback that includes the ability to switch between air routes. It offers a close, reliable quantification of the demand for air routes. Finally, harmonic analysis does suggest a value of the elasticity for the market as a whole. Both methods would give a solution to this econometric problem. |
| Keywords: | Elasticidad, demanda, identificación, estimación |
| JEL: | C13 C29 D12 D43 |
| Date: | 2018–01–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:83572&r=tre |
| By: | Chen, C.; Dollevoet, T.A.B.; Zhao, J. |
| Abstract: | We investigate the one-block train formation problem (TFP) in the railway freight transportation industry given a car route for each shipment. The TFP considers both the block design and the car-to-block assignment in the tactical level. Moving beyond current researches on service network design, the unitary rule and the intree rule are taken into account in this study based on the Chinese railway background. We develop a linear binary programming formulation to minimize the sum of train cost and classication delay subject to limitations on the classication capacity and the number of sort tracks at each station. Furthermore, we propose a novel solution methodology that applies a tree-based decomposition algorithm. Here, we rst decompose the whole network into a series of rooted trees for each destination separately. Then, we divide the trees into suciently small subtrees, whose size is regulated by a node size parameter. Finally, we construct a restricted linear binary model for each subtree and solve these models sequentially to nd their optimal solutions. Our computational results on a realistic network from the Chinese railway system with 83 stations, 158 links and 5700 randomly generated demands show that the proposed algorithm can derive high-quality solutions within 3 hours. These solutions are on average 43.89% better than those obtained after solving the linear binary program for 1 day. |
| Keywords: | Railway Freight Transportation, Train Formation Problem, Service Network Design, Tree-based Decomposition, Arborescence Structure |
| Date: | 2017–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ems:eureir:103193&r=tre |
| By: | Stephan Fretz; Raphael Parchet; Frédéric Robert-Nicoud |
| Abstract: | We design a spatial model featuring workers embodied with heterogeneous skills. In equilibrium, locations with improved market access become relatively more attractive to the high-skilled, high-income earners. We then empirically analyze the effects of the construction of the Swiss highway network between 1960 and 2010 on the distribution of income at the local level, as well as on employment and commuting by education level. We find that the advent of a new highway access within 10km led to a long-term 19%-increase of the share of high-income taxpayers and a 6%-decrease of the share of low-income taxpayers. Results are similar for employment data decomposed by education level, as well as for in- and out-commuters. Highways also contributed to job and residential urban sprawl. |
| Keywords: | transportation, highway, market access, income sorting |
| JEL: | D31 O18 H54 R11 R23 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6770&r=tre |
| By: | Paola Bertoli; Veronica Grembi; Judit Vall Castello |
| Abstract: | We provide new evidence on the impact of recessions on traffic accidents, by exploiting the case of Spain, where the effects of the 2008 economic crisis have been among the strongest in the developed world. We exploit differences in the incidence of the recession across Spanish provinces due to the unequal evolution of the real estate bubble across the territory. We use a unique dataset on the universe of traffic accidents in Spain between 2004 and 2011. We first follow the literature on the topic and examine the impact of the economic crisis on the probability of having a traffic accident. However, we also go one step further, as we are able to identify any changes in the composition of both victims and driving behaviors as a result of the crisis. First, our results show that the Great Recession reduced traffic accidents in Spain. Second, for the compositional effects, we report decreased probabilities of dying or reporting a serious injury. More importantly, we also detect an increase in the probability that people involved in an accident abuse alcohol and drugs. Our results are robust to different measures of the treatment (i.e., employment in the construction sector) and the use of a spatial fixed effects model and are not biased by anticipatory effects. Finally, we show that our findings are driven by less-populated areas. Thus, we suggest that alcohol and drug control measures be reinforced during recessions and more attention should be devoted to rural areas to to strengthen the reduction of road traffic accidents. |
| Keywords: | recession, traffic accidents; Spain; economic crisis; spatial fixed effects model |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp611&r=tre |
| By: | Peter Gal (OECD); Jagoda Egeland (OECD) |
| Abstract: | The United Kingdom displays large regional disparities in productivity compared to most other OECD countries, with a large gap between London and most other regions. This holds back aggregate productivity and growth, and contributes to regional differences in living standards. To make the lagging regions more attractive to companies and workers, transport links between and within cities should be improved by increasing infrastructure investment outside London. Another policy priority is to improve the local business environment through more spending on innovation and increased support for investment and skills. Also, local authorities should have more freedom in setting education and training goals and the land-use planning system has to be more responsive to meet housing needs in cities. The role of subnational government is sub-par relative to the OECD average, but more devolution has recently been introduced in several city-regions. Such efforts towards more decentralization need to continue to cover larger parts of the country and involve greater transfers of powers and responsibilities at the local level. |
| Keywords: | decentralisation, Productivity, regional development, transport |
| JEL: | O4 R3 R4 R5 |
| Date: | 2018–01–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1456-en&r=tre |
| By: | Christian Traxler; Franz Westermaier; Ansgar Wohlschlegel |
| Abstract: | This paper studies drivers’ responses to a ‘notched’ penalty scheme in which speeding penalties are stepwise and discontinuously increasing in speed. We present survey evidence suggesting that drivers in Germany are well aware of the notched penalty structure. Based on a simple analytical framework we analyze the impact of the notches on drivers’ optimal speed choices. The model’s predictions are confronted with data on more than 150,000 speeding tickets from the Autobahn and 290,000 speed measures from a traffic monitoring system. The data provide evidence on modest levels of bunching, despite several frictions working against it. We analyze the normative implications and assess the scope for welfare gains from moving from a simple, notched penalty scheme to a more complex but less salient Pigouvian scheme. |
| Keywords: | notches, speeding tickets, stepwise penalty function, salience |
| JEL: | K40 D04 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6786&r=tre |
| By: | Audrey Berry (CIRED) |
| Abstract: | For households, taxing carbon raises the cost of the energy they use to heat their home and to travel. This paper studies the distributional impacts of the recently introduced French carbon tax and the design of compensation measures. Using a microsimulation model built on a representative sample of the French population from 2012, I simulate for each household the taxes levied on its consumption of energy for housing and transport. Without recycling, the carbon tax is regressive and increases fuel poverty. However, I show how compensation measures can offset these impacts. A flat cash transfer offsets tax regressivity by redistributing |
| Keywords: | Carbon tax, Distributional impacts, Fuel poverty, Revenue recycling, Microsimulation |
| JEL: | Q5 I3 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:ppaper:2017.08&r=tre |
| By: | Daniel Gurara; Vladimir Klyuev; Nkunde Mwase; Andrea Presbitero; Xin Cindy Xu; Geoffrey J Bannister |
| Abstract: | This paper examines trends in infrastructure investment and its financing in low-income developing countries (LIDCs). Following an acceleration of public investment over the last 15 years, the stock of infrastructure assets increased in LIDCs, even though large gaps remain compared to emerging markets. Infrastructure in LIDCs is largely provided by the public sector; private participation is mostly channeled through Public-Private Partnerships. Grants and concessional loans are an essential source of infrastructure funding in LIDCs, while the complementary role of bank lending is still limited to a few countries. Bridging infrastructure gaps would require a broad set of actions to improve the efficiency of public spending, mobilize domestic resources and support from development partners, and crowd in the private sector. |
| Date: | 2017–11–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:17/233&r=tre |
| By: | D'Haultfoeuille, Xavier; Durrmeyer, Isis; Février, Philippe |
| Abstract: | In markets where sellers are able to price discriminate, individuals pay different prices that may be unobserved by the econometrician. This paper considers the structural estimation of a demand and supply model à la Berry et al. (1995) with such price discrimination and limited information on prices taking the form of, e.g., observing list prices from catalogues or average prices. Within this framework, identification is achieved by using supply-side conditions, provided that the marginal costs of producing and selling the goods do not depend on the characteristics of the buyers. The model can be estimated by GMM using a nested fixed point algorithm that extends BLP’s algorithm to our setting. We apply our methodology to estimate the demand and supply in the French new automobile market. Our results suggest that discounting arising from price discrimination is important. The average discount is estimated to be 9.6%, with large variation depending on buyers’ characteristics and cars’ specifications. Our results are consistent with other evidence on transaction prices in France. |
| Keywords: | demand and supply; unobserved transaction prices; price discrimination; automobiles |
| JEL: | C51 D12 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:32136&r=tre |