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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Thierry Mayer (Département d'économie); Corentin Trevien |
| Abstract: | We use the natural experiment provided by the opening and progressive extension of the Regional Express Rail (RER) between 1970 and 2000 in the Paris metropolitan region, and in particular the departure from the original plans due to budget constraints and technical considerations, to identify the causal impact of urban rail transport on firm location, employment and population growth. We apply a difference-in-differences method to a particular subsample, selected to minimize the endogeneity that is routinely found in the evaluation of the effects of transport infrastructure. We find that the RER opening caused a 8.8% rise in employment in the municipalities connected to the network between 1975 and 1990. While we find no effect on overall population growth, our results suggest that the arrival of the RER may have increased competition for land, since high-skilled households were more likely to locate in the vicinity of a RER station. |
| Keywords: | Location; Urban form; Transport infrastructure; Subway |
| JEL: | D04 H43 R42 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/6d427am2i18m5a5elpijpm1e8l&r=tre |
| By: | White, Laura (Harvard University); Rochet, Jean-Louis (Harvard University); Mathias, Pete (Harvard University); O'Gorman, Kate (Harvard University); Bilmes, Linda (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents rough order-of- magnitude estimates for the capital cost of the North South Rail Link (the “Link†), a proposed infrastructure project to connect the commuter rail and Amtrak lines that currently terminate at Boston’s North and South Stations via underground tunnels. The Link’s design and construction cost was estimated using a financial model built from actual line item-costs in the Federal Transportation Administration's database of transportation projects. A regression analysis of comparable completed tunneling projects was performed to validate this estimate. The Link is estimated to cost approximately $5.9 billion in 2025 dollars for the maximum build alternative (two tunnels, four tracks, and three stations). The minimum build alternative (one tunnel, two tracks, and two stations) is estimated to cost approximately $3.8 billion. Both estimates represent a mean of several estimation techniques and are the center of a distribution of possible cost outcomes. The study also identified the areas in which cost overruns have occurred in previous tunnel and rail projects and proposes steps to mitigate against such overruns. The study did not examine the potential benefits of constructing the Link and we recommend further study of both the costs and benefits of this important project. |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp17-032&r=tre |
| By: | Jean Pierre Ponssard (Department of Economics, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Cedex, 91128, France - affiliation inconnue); Guy Meunier (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Date: | 2018–04–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:ciredw:halshs-01777499&r=tre |
| By: | Anna Maria Mayda; Giovanni Peri; Walter Steingress |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we estimate the effect on housing prices of the expansion of the Vancouver SkyTrain rapid transit network during the period 2001–11. We extend the canonical residential sorting equilibrium framework to include commuting time in the household utility function. We estimate household preferences in the sorting model using confidential micro data and geographic information systems (GIS) data on the SkyTrain network. Using these preference estimates and observed data for 2001, we simulate the equilibrium effects of expanding the SkyTrain. In our counterfactual analysis, the SkyTrain expansion increases housing prices not only in neighborhoods where the expansion occurred, but also in those with access to pre-existing segments of the network. We show how these network housing price effects depend on household commuting patterns, and discuss the implications of our results for targeted taxation policies designed to capture the housing price appreciation stemming from a public transit investment. |
| Keywords: | International topics, Labour markets |
| JEL: | F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bca:bocawp:18-19&r=tre |
| By: | Xiaofang Dong; Siqi Zheng; Matthew E. Kahn |
| Abstract: | High skilled workers gain from face to face interactions. If the skilled can move at higher speeds, then knowledge diffusion and idea spillovers are likely to reach greater distances. This paper uses the construction of China’s high speed rail (HSR) network as a natural experiment to test this claim. HSR connects major cities, that feature the nation’s best universities, to secondary cities. Since bullet trains reduce cross-city commute times, they reduce the cost of face-to-face interactions between skilled workers who work in different cities. Using a data base listing research paper publication and citations, we document a complementarity effect between knowledge production and the transportation network. Co-authors’ productivity rises and more new co-author pairs emerge when secondary cities are connected by bullet train to China’s major cities. |
| JEL: | O15 O31 R4 |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24539&r=tre |
| By: | Lucas W. Davis; Shaun McRae; Enrique Seira Bejarano |
| Abstract: | Retail petroleum markets in Mexico are on the cusp of a historic deregulation. For decades, all 11,000 gasoline stations nationwide have carried the brand of the state-owned petroleum company Pemex and sold Pemex gasoline at federally regulated retail prices. This industry structure is changing, however, as part of Mexico's broader energy reforms aimed at increasing private investment. Since April 2016, independent companies can import, transport, store, distribute, and sell gasoline and diesel. In this paper, we provide an economic perspective on Mexico's nascent deregulation. Although in many ways the reforms are unprecedented, we argue that past experiences in other markets give important clues about what to expect, as well as about potential pitfalls. Turning Mexico's retail petroleum sector into a competitive market will not be easy, but the deregulation has enormous potential to increase efficiency and, eventually, to reduce prices. |
| JEL: | L11 L51 Q31 Q48 |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24547&r=tre |
| By: | Radoslaw Trojanek; Michal Gluszak |
| Abstract: | In the paper, we analyzed both spatial and time effects of subway availability on apartment prices in Warsaw, the only city in Poland with rapid urban transit system. We have used the data set contained in 6971 geo-coded apartment transactions for the years 2010 to 2015 in Warsaw. In this research, the hedonic method was used in OLS, QTL, SAR and SEM models. We found strong evidence that the new subway line (M2) influenced apartment prices even before it was completed. It confirms our hypothesis, and is in line with previous research in other countries. We observed a steady price premium adjustment process related to new subway line. The impact of the new subway line M2 on apartment prices gradually and significantly increased with time. An increase in distance to the subway station was reflected in a decrease in housing prices (from -1.7%per km in 2010 to -2.4%per km in 2015). We have not found similar effect for the old subway line M1. In case of the latter, the marginal effects did not change significantly in time. |
| Keywords: | Hedonic methods; Housing Market; property prices; subway |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2017–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2017_209&r=tre |
| By: | Mashabela, Juliet; Raputsoane, Leroi |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the importance of competitiveness factors in international competitiveness ranking of South Africa. In particular, the paper investigates the odds in favour of an improved, as opposed to a deteriorated, Overall international competitiveness ranking due to a change in selected competitiveness factors. The results show that the autonomous improvement in Overall international competitiveness ranking is statistically insignificant while the effect of a change in Government efficiency also has a statistically insignificant effect on the odds in favour of an improved Overall international competitiveness ranking. The results further show that a change in Economic performance, Business efficiency and Infrastructure increase the odds in favour of an improved Overall international competitiveness ranking. Finally, a change in Infrastructure has the biggest odds in favour of an improvement in Overall international competitiveness ranking compared to a change in Economic performance and Business efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Competitiveness factors, International competitiveness ranking |
| JEL: | C12 E02 F23 I31 |
| Date: | 2018–05–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:86477&r=tre |
| By: | Coublucq, Daniel; Ivaldi, Marc; Mccullough, Gerard J. |
| Abstract: | Considering the US railroad industry, which is characterized by seven integrated firms that provide freight services on tracks they own and maintain, this paper provides a structural model that allows to evaluate the potential effects of opening the rail network to new firms on prices and investment incentives. In particular, we propose a framework for analyzing the tension between static efficiency (pricing behavior) and dynamic efficiency (investment behavior). The investment behavior is rendered endogenous by means of a dynamic model where the current investment depends on the expected future profits. We then use a forward simulation procedure to analyze the effect of an open-access market structure where a new firm uses the network of one of the biggest railroad firm. Under a simple access charge equaled to the marginal cost of access, investment in network infrastructure decreases by 10% per year, leading to a significant decrease in network quality over time. Under this setting, despite the increase of price competition, the decrease in network quality leads to a fall in consumer welfare. Other types of (more evolved) access charges might even allow to relax the tension between static efficiency and dynamic efficiency, allowing more price competition while preserving investment incentives. This topic deserves further research and is beyond the scope of this paper. |
| Keywords: | competition; dynamic structural models; investment; open-access; railroad industry; static-dynamic efficiency trade-off |
| JEL: | L10 L51 L92 |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:32621&r=tre |
| By: | Michal Gluszak; Iwona Forys; Jan Konowalczuk |
| Abstract: | The externalities resulting from airport operation has been a subject of empirical investigation in economic literature, at least since 1960s. Most of the research focused on negative relation between airport noise and property values. The results were summarized in meta-analysis of 23 previous studies based on North American data by Nelson (2004) – suggesting significant noise discount, but also country level differences.The study extends the scope of analysis, covering airports outside United States and Canada (mainly in Europe). Additionally, in the paper we discuss the joint effect of airport noise and land use restrictions enforced in selected areas around the airport on property values. We argue that the nature of land use controls related to airport operation can significantly affect the relation between noise and property values, and should be controlled for in order to get unbiased results in hedonic models. |
| Keywords: | airport noise; land use controls; meta-analysis; Property Values |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2017–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2017_244&r=tre |
| By: | Thomas J. Holmes; Ethan Singer |
| Abstract: | This paper develops and estimates a model of indivisibilities in shipping and economies of scale in consolidation. It uses highly detailed data on imports for which it is possible to observe the contents of individual containers. In the model, a firm is able to adapt to indivisibility constraints by using consolidation strategies, and by determining how dense to make its distribution network in both space and time. Indivisibilities are found to create significant scale economies in distribution. |
| JEL: | D24 F0 L0 |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24525&r=tre |