nep-tre New Economics Papers
on Transport Economics
Issue of 2016‒10‒02
twelve papers chosen by
Erik Teodoor Verhoef
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

  1. Branch-and-Price-and-Cut for the Vehicle Routing and Truck Driver Scheduling Problem By Christian Tilk
  2. Car fleet policy evaluation: the case of a Bonus-Malus system in Sweden By Habibi, Shiva; Beser Hugosson, Muriel; Sundbergh, Pia; Algers, Staffan
  3. The impact of axle loads on rail infrastructure maintenance costs By Odolinski, Kristofer
  4. Branch-and-Price-and-Cut for the Truck-andTrailer Routing Problem with Time Windows By Ann-Kathrin Rothenbächer; Michael Drexl; Stefan Irnich
  5. Contract design and performance of railway maintenance: effects of incentive intensity and performance incentive schemes By Odolinski , Kristofer
  6. Merger Guidelines for Bidding Markets By Philippe Gagnepain; David Martimort
  7. Drivers and barriers to pre-adoption of strategic scanning information systems in the context of sustainable supply chain By Nicolas Lesca; Marie-Laurence Caron-Fasan; Edison Loza Aguirre; Marie-Christine Chalus-Sauvannet
  8. Strategic behaviour in road cycling competitions By Jean-François Mignot
  9. Who Drives Luxury Cars (Only for a While)? By Christopher J. Kurz; Geng Li
  10. The history of professional road cycling By Jean-François Mignot
  11. Impacts of rural road on household welfare in Vietnam: Evidence from a replication study By Cuong Viet Nguyen
  12. Fuel tourism in Dutch border regions: are only salient price differentials relevant? By David-Jan Jansen; Nicole Jonker

  1. By: Christian Tilk (Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany)
    Abstract: Many governments worldwide have imposed hours of service regulations for truck drivers to ensure that break and rest periods are regularly taken. Transport companies have to take these into account and plan the routes and schedules of their truck drivers simultaneously. This problem is called vehicle routing and truck driver scheduling problem (VRTDSP). With their paper “An exact method for vehicle routing and truck driver scheduling problems” [Technical Report No. 33, Jacobs University, School of Engineering and Science, Bremen, Germany] Goel and Irnich presented the ?rst exact approach to the VRTDSP.They include hours of service regulations in a vehicle routing problem with time windows and use a branch-and-price algorithm to solve it. The main contribution of the paper at hand is to present a sophisticated branch-and-price-and-cut algorithm for the VRTDSP that is based on the parameter-free auxiliary network and the resource extension functions (REFs) de?ned in the work of Goel and Irnich. Their labeling algorithm is extended by means of de?ning backward REFs in order to build a bidirectional labeling. Feasible routes are constructed by a non-trivial merge procedure. Di?erent acceleration techniques are used to speed up the solution process of the pricing problem. In addition, several classes of known valid inequalities are used to further strengthen the LP-relaxation of the master program. We present a detailed computational study to analyze the impact of the di?erent techniques. The resulting algorithm is able to solve all VRTDSP benchmark instances with 25 customers and 44 out of 56 instances with 50 customers in two hours of computation time to proven optimality.
    Keywords: truck driver, routing and scheduling, branch-and-price-and-cut
    Date: 2016–08–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jgu:wpaper:1616&r=tre
  2. By: Habibi, Shiva (Chalmers); Beser Hugosson, Muriel (KTH); Sundbergh, Pia (Trafikanalys); Algers, Staffan (KTH)
    Abstract: The car fleet composition is important from several aspects including energy consumption, greenhouse gas and other emissions. Evaluation of car fleet policy measures is therefore vital for choosing among different car policy options. In this paper, we demonstrate how such an evaluation could have been carried out in the context of the Swedish governmental investigation of a fossil free car fleet, released early 2014. One objective of the policy package is to design a Bonus-Malus system that pushes the Swedish fleet composition towards the EU objectives of the average CO2 emissions for new cars by 2021. The proposed scenarios address cars bought by private persons as well as by companies. These scenarios differ in designs for registration tax, vehicle circulation tax, clean car premiums, company car benefits tax and fuel tax. We use the Swedish car fleet model system to predict the effects of the proposed scenarios on the Swedish car fleet composition. Also, we build a simple supply model to predict future supply. Our model results show that none of the three proposed scenarios is actually successful enough to meet the Swedish average CO2 emissions target. The average CO2 emissions in two of these scenarios are actually not much different from the business as usual scenario. In all scenarios, the number of electric and plug in hybrid cars increase. However, in all scenarios, the car fleet will still be totally dominated by fossil fuelled cars. Also, relative to a business as usual scenario the number of ethanol and gas cars is reduced in the other scenarios. Also, the Bonus-Malus system gives a positive net result in terms of budget effects showing that car buyers choose to pay the malus for a car with higher emissions rather than to be attracted by the bonus of a car with lower emissions.
    Keywords: Bonus-Malus; Taxation policies evaluation; Car fleet modeling; Vehicle supply model
    JEL: R40
    Date: 2016–09–27
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2016_019&r=tre
  3. By: Odolinski, Kristofer (VTI)
    Abstract: In this paper we estimate the impact of axle loads on rail infrastructure maintenance costs in Sweden. The results are contrasted to the cost impact of ton density, a common measure in the literature on rail infrastructure costs. We find non-linear cost elasticities with respect to a ton per axle density measure, with an estimate at the sample median that is larger than the corresponding estimate for ton density. The results are relevant for the setting of track access charges in Europe, considering that the econometric results in this paper give support to the engineering perspective - that is, axle loads are important to consider when estimating the damage caused by traffic.
    Keywords: Axle load; Maintenance; Railways; Infrastructure costs
    JEL: L92 R48
    Date: 2016–09–28
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2016_021&r=tre
  4. By: Ann-Kathrin Rothenbächer (Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany); Michael Drexl (Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany); Stefan Irnich (Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany)
    Abstract: In this paper, we present a new branch-and-price-and-cut algorithm to solve the truck-and-trailer routing problem with time windows (TTRPTW) and two real-world extensions. In all TTRPTW variants, the ?eet consists of one or more trucks that may attach a trailer. Some customers are not accessible with a truckand-trailer combination, but can however be serviced by one if the trailer is previously detached and parked atasuitablelocation. Inthe?rstextension, the planning horizon comprises twodays and customers maybe visited either on both days or only once, in which case twice the daily supply must be collected. The second extension incorporates load transfer times depending on the quantity moved from a truck to its trailer. The exact branch-and-price-and-cut algorithm for the standard variant and the two new extensions is based on a set-partitioning formulation in which columns are routes describing the movement of a truck and its associated trailer. Linear relaxations of this formulation are solved by column generation where new routes are generated with a dynamic programming labeling algorithm. The e?ectiveness of this pricing procedure can be attributed to the adaptation of techniques such as bidirectional labeling, the ng-neighbourhood, and heuristic pricing using dynamically reduced networks and relaxed dominance. The cutting component of the branch-and-price-and-cut adds violated subset-row inequalities to strengthen the linear relaxation. Computational studies show that our algorithm outperforms existing approaches on TTRP and TTRPTW benchmark instances used in the literature.
    Keywords: Vehicle Routing, Truck-and-Trailer Routing, Branch-and-Price-and-Cut
    Date: 2016–09–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jgu:wpaper:1617&r=tre
  5. By: Odolinski , Kristofer (VTI)
    Abstract: In this paper we study the effect of contract design on the performance of railway maintenance in Sweden, using a panel data set over the period 2003-2013. The marginal effect of incentive intensity is estimated, showing that the power of incentive schemes improve performance as measured by the number of infrastructure failures. In addition, the performance incentive schemes result in a reallocation of effort from failures not causing train delays to failures causing train delays
    Keywords: Contract design; Incentive intensity; Maintenance; Railways
    JEL: D82 L92
    Date: 2016–09–28
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2016_020&r=tre
  6. By: Philippe Gagnepain (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics); David Martimort (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC), PSE - Paris School of Economics)
    Abstract: We propose merger guidelines for bidding markets through the construction of a simple test. It is applied in the particular context of the French urban transport industry. It designs the optimal auction and captures two opposite forces at stake: on the one hand, the optimal auction is biased against a merger due to a loss of competition; on the other hand, potential efficiency gains bias the optimal allocation towards the merger firm. The two effects can be nested in a single equation condition which determines whether the merger improves the consumer net surplus. We suggest that the merger between Transdev and Veolia is consumer surplus improving if the efficiency gains from the merger allow both firms to decrease their initial costs inability by at least 17.9% and 17.8% respectively.
    Keywords: transports publics urbains
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01314036&r=tre
  7. By: Nicolas Lesca (CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Marie-Laurence Caron-Fasan (CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes, CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Edison Loza Aguirre (CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes); Marie-Christine Chalus-Sauvannet (Centre de Recherche Magellan - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon III - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Lyon)
    Abstract: This research is reporting on the pre-adoption of Strategic Scanning (S.Scan) information systems (IS). More specifically, it relates to the pre-adoption phase, that is, the emergence of the idea of such a system and the evaluation of its need for the organization, upstream of any technological consideration. The research question is the following: what are the drivers and barriers that influence the pre-adoption of a S.Scan IS? The objective of this research is to extend knowledge on a subject that has received little attention from the scholars. Research's originality relies on the use of isomorphic processes from neo-institutional framework to study pre-adoption in the field of S.Scan. On the basis of a multi-method research combining qualitative and quantitative exploratory studies in the specific field of sustainable supply chains (SSC), our results highlight 31 drivers and barriers to pre-adoption of S.Scan IS, ten of which have not been identified before, and five types of pressures. They therefore suggest that pre-adoption of S.Scan IS can be subject to both functional and institutional pressures. It can be driven either by competitiveness or conformism pressures, and hindered by performance objectives or lack of coercive pressures. Finally, these results put a question mark about the understanding of the strategic dimension of S.Scan IS by organisations, and the government's role and its responsibility for promoting SSC initiatives and for the adoption of S.Scan IS on this issue.
    Keywords: strategic scanning,sustainable supply chain,adoption,pre-adoption,institutional theory,drivers,barriers
    Date: 2015–12–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01337216&r=tre
  8. By: Jean-François Mignot (GEMASS - Groupe d'Etude des Méthodes de l'Analyse Sociologique de la Sorbonne - UP4 - Université Paris-Sorbonne - FMSH - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
    Abstract: Why is there strategy, not just brute force, in cycling competitions? What are the recurring strategic interactions among riders? And what can economists learn from riders’ behaviors? This chapter first provides an overview on the main reasons why bicycle races are strategic and not just a mere display of brute force. Next, several game-theory analyses of strategic interactions between riders are presented: attack timing strategy, cooperation and noncooperation in breakaways and in the peloton, three-player interactions and sprint strategy. It is founded on examples of strategic interactions between riders that occurred in the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, the Vuelta a España and other races.
    Keywords: Cycling,Cycling performance,Cycling sprint,Game Theory,Sport Sciences,Sport economics
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01326720&r=tre
  9. By: Christopher J. Kurz; Geng Li
    Abstract: Household consumption of luxury goods has attracted increasing attention in various areas of finance and economics research.
    Date: 2015–06–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfn:2015-06-01&r=tre
  10. By: Jean-François Mignot (GEMASS - Groupe d'Etude des Méthodes de l'Analyse Sociologique de la Sorbonne - UP4 - Université Paris-Sorbonne - FMSH - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
    Abstract: Why did cycling become professional as early as the late 19th century, while other sports (such as rugby) and other sport events (such as the Olympic Games) remained amateur until the 1980s? Why are the organizers of the most important cycling races private companies? To what extent have bicycle races changed since the late 19th century? And how does cycling reflect long-term economic changes? The history of professional road cycling helps to answer these questions and to understand many related phenomena. This chapter provides a long-term historical perspective on (1) professional road cycling’s economic agents, i.e. the public, race organizers, team sponsors and riders, and the relationships among them; (2) cycling’s governing body, the International Cycling Union; and (3) professional cycling’s final product, i.e. the show of bicycle races. The chapter focuses more specifically on the history of male professional road cycling in Western Europe since the late-19th century. It is founded on both an analysis of quantitative time series of the most important races and a review of the existing literature on the history of professional cycling, whether economic history, institutional history, cultural history or sport history.
    Keywords: Sports History,Cycling,Europe,Tour de France,Giro d'Italia,Vuelta a Espana,Cycling Race,International Cycling Union
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01326719&r=tre
  11. By: Cuong Viet Nguyen
    Abstract: Recently, there is a call for replication research to validate empirical findings, especially findings important for development policies. Thus, this study tried to replicate estimation results from Mu and van de Walle ("Rural Roads and Local Market Development in Vietnam" published in Journal of Development Studies 2011). Overall, the author is able to replicate the most estimates from Mu and van de Walle. He finds the positive effect of rural road on local market development. In addition to the pure replication, the author also estimates the effect of the road project on additional outcomes including access to credit and migration, but do not find significant effects on these outcomes.
    Keywords: replication,impact,evaluation,propensity,score,matching,rural,road,Vietnam
    JEL: H43 O12 C14
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201640&r=tre
  12. By: David-Jan Jansen; Nicole Jonker
    Abstract: Using detailed data on consumer payments, we find only limited evidence that fluctuations in cross-border fuel price differentials are relevant for Dutch consumers. Consumers living close to the German border did react to a salient increase in Dutch excise fuel duties in January 2014. However, the increase of fuel tourism was only temporary. Secondly, there are no robust indications that fuel tourism is relevant for Dutch consumers living further than 10 kilometres from either the border with Belgium or Germany. The apparent absence of fuel tourism may either be explained by the widespread use of loyalty cards or by the low level of international commuting by Dutch workers.
    Keywords: fuel tourism; consumer data; payment diaries; excise duties
    JEL: D12 H23 Q41
    Date: 2016–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:519&r=tre

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