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on Transport Economics |
| By: | Xiaojuan Yu (Zhongnan University of Economics and Law and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Vincent A.C. van den Berg (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores how the interaction between human-driven vehicles (HVs) cruising for parking and autonomous vehicles (AVs) traveling back and forth affects travel behavior and congestion. To capture the spatial distribution of parking, we develop a continuous spatial optimization model, with a discrete choice logit model governing the choice between the two modes. Various congestion externalities are considered in the proposed model. Using optimal control method, we derive the social optimum under user-equilibrium constraints and compare it to the unpriced user equilibrium. Without pricing, the introduction of AVs may increase or lower congestion depending on whether cruising or traveling back and forth dominates. Thus, AVs may be underused or overused, as the marginal external benefit of switching to AVs may be positive or negative. In our numerical model, with optimal pricing, the introduction of AVs always reduces travel costs. In terms of parking, the introduction of AVs is efficient in reducing parking demand and results in a smaller and less compact city. The efficiency of pricing is significantly impacted by the congestion interactions. When only one congestion type exists, it increases with the degree of congestion. However, when both congestion types exist, the efficiency of pricing is ambiguous. Specifically, when both HVs’ cruising congestion and AVs’ back-and-forth congestion are heavy, the efficiency of pricing is lower. Our proposed model reveals that the effects of AVs on travel and urban equilibrium may be more difficult to assess and less beneficial than often thought. Our numerical study provides policy insights into actions that regulators could consider for the operation of AVs. |
| Keywords: | Autonomous vehicles, Cruising, Parking pricing, Congestion |
| JEL: | R41 R42 R48 |
| Date: | 2024–05–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20240032 |
| By: | Zhe Yuan; Panle Jia Barwick |
| Abstract: | The Hub-and-Spoke network is a defining feature of the airline industry. This paper is among the first in the literature to introduce an empirical framework for analyzing network competition among airlines. Airlines make market entry decisions and choose flight frequencies in the first stage, followed by price competition to attract passengers in the second stage. A key feature of this model is the linkage between direct and indirect flights, which is described by a technological relationship (and estimated using data) that proxies the Hub-and-Spoke network. The paper estimates the marginal costs of serving passengers and operating flights using first-order conditions, bounds the entry costs using inequalities derived from the reveal-preference argument, and employs a state-of-the-art econometric method to conduct inference for entry cost parameters. Ignoring network externality underestimates the benefits of operating an additional flight by 13.2%, and airlines would schedule 21.53% fewer one-stop flights had they made flight operation decisions independently for each market. To evaluate the impact of a hypothetical merger, the paper proposes a novel equilibrium concept that makes it feasible to compute the industry equilibria. Counterfactual analyses indicate that a hypothetical merger between Alaska and Virgin America would increase consumer surplus as the merged airline would offer direct flights in 10% more markets while the overall post-merger price effect would likely be muted. |
| JEL: | C51 L13 L14 L93 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32893 |
| By: | Megan R. Bailey; David P. Brown; Erica Myers; Blake C. Shaffer; Frank A. Wolak |
| Abstract: | The growth of electric vehicles (EVs) raises new challenges for electricity systems. We implement a field experiment to assess the effect of time-of-use (TOU) pricing and managed charging on EV charging behavior. We find that while TOU pricing is effective at shifting EV charging into off-peak hours, it unintentionally induces new and larger “shadow peaks” of simultaneous charging. These shadow peaks lead to greater exceedance of local capacity constraints and advance the need for distribution network upgrades. In contrast, centrally managed charging solves the coordination problem, reducing transformer capacity requirements, and is well-tolerated by consumers in our setting. |
| JEL: | L94 Q41 R40 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32886 |
| By: | Bickenbach, Frank; Dohse, Dirk; Langhammer, Rolf J.; Liu, Wan-Hsin |
| Abstract: | China uses subsidies extensively to take a leading role in the global markets of green-tech products such as battery electric vehicles and wind turbines. Against the background of the current EU investigations into Chinese subsidies in these sectors, this article takes a careful look at the Chinese subsidy system and provides new data on direct government subsidies to leading Chinese producers of electric cars and wind turbines. Extensive government support has allowed Chinese companies to scale up rapidly, to dominate the Chinese market and to expand into foreign markets. The article concludes that the EU should use its strong bargaining power due to the single market to induce the Chinese government to abandon the most harmful subsidies. |
| Keywords: | China, industrial subsidies, battery electric vehicles, wind turbines, railway rolling stock, EU, anti-subsidy proceeding |
| JEL: | F13 O25 O53 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:301402 |
| By: | Yokoyama, Kazuki |
| Abstract: | Without a sufficiently informative dataset, it would be difficult to explore strategic interdependencies among firms, such as demand estimation. This paper investigates strategic interdependence through a unique historical case of duopoly in the Japanese maritime industry during the 1880s. Yubin Kisen Mitsubishi, led by Iwasaki Yataro, was a monopoly. A new entrant, Kyodo Un'yu, led by Shibusawa Eiichi, offered superior services and implemented a strategy of one-sided fare reductions. Yubin Kisen Mitsubishi delayed in taking countermeasures. This paper regards this delay as a quasi-experiment, and reveals the process by which Kyodo Un'yu gained market share. A simple elasticity calculation shows that a 1% price cut by Kyodo Un'yu resulted in a 10.065% increase in cargo transport demand. |
| Keywords: | Strategic Interdependence, Duopoly, Price Reduction, Elasticity, Maritime Industry, Shibusawa Eiichi, Iwasaki Yataro |
| JEL: | D43 N75 N85 R41 |
| Date: | 2024–08–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:121730 |
| By: | Sanctuary, Mark (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, & IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute); Fagerström, Anton (IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute); Feiz, Roozbeh (Linköping University); Lönnqvist, Tomas (IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute); Lindfors, Axel (Linköping University) |
| Abstract: | Swedish transportation has a high reliance on biofuels, accounting for approximately 20% of total energy demand in 2019 for transportation, excluding electricity. This makes Sweden an exceptional opportunity to study the interaction between climate policy and fuel security objectives in a small open economy with no domestic oil production. Despite this high reliance, we estimate Sweden’s fuel security premium to be upwards of 0.065 EUR per liter diesel equivalence (or 12.6 USD/barrel) of imported oil, which is comparable although lower than similar estimates for the USA. We then discuss fuel security policy related to specific fuels including HVO/FAME, biomethane, and electricity. We conclude that electricity, and to some extent biomethane, are the most promising in terms of their potential to support fuel security objectives and reduce greenhouse gas emission. |
| Keywords: | Fuel security premium; renewable fuel; climate policy; biofuels; electricity |
| JEL: | Q42 Q43 Q58 |
| Date: | 2024–08–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0501 |
| By: | Shizhen Wang; Stanimira Milcheva |
| Abstract: | We propose an impossible trinity of human space usage between home, workplace, and amenity in this paper to explain mobility pattern changes and shifts in demand for space during COVID-19. We developed detailed time usage and location visit profiles for 60, 131 people in England and Wales by analyzing about 120 million cell phone location and timestamp records from March 2020 and 2021. We found that both at-home time and amenity visits increased during COVID-19, while workplace visits decreased. Individual visits to different locations are determined by three key factors: individual preference measured by pre-pandemic location visit frequency, time constraints influenced by work-from-home, and space accessibility. We also find that WFH improves equality of individual amenity usage between people of different incomes. Low-income and middle-income people saw an 8% and 4% increase in additional amenity visits, respectively, compared to high-income people during the pandemic. |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2408.02942 |