Social Preferences and Transport Policy: The case of US speed limits

This article, in reviewing the longrunning US debate on speed limits, illustrates how a different valuation of the trade-off between private mobility needs and safety concerns can shape transport policies. It is argued that the regulatory decentralization debate, together with the speed limit in force in each state, obey the social preferences and valuation given to this tradeoff. Such a view is consistent with evidence that higher speed limits are to be found in states with greater private mobility needs, even though their fatality rates might be among the highest in the country. By contrast, lower speed limits and supporters of a low national speed limit are to be found in states that show a greater concern for safety outcomes and which are less dependent on private mobility. By reviewing these events and examining the role played by the main actors and analyzing their motivations, the article identifies important lessons for similar future discussions on transport policy

Democratitzar l'economia

Molt sovint, se'ns presenta l'economia com si fos una ciència exacta. Qüestió de números, on dos més dos sempre fan quatre. Però l'economia és una mica més complicada que quatre operacions matemàtiques. Perquè els números que sumes i restes depenen de les decisions que prenguis. Per això, l'economia, per damunt de tot, és política. Per això cal democratitzar l'economia

The Institutional, Economic and Social Determinants of Local Government Transparency

Interest in public accountability and government transparency is increasing worldwide. The literature on the determinants of transparency is evolving but is still in its early stages. So far, it has typically focused on national or regional governments while neglecting the local government level. This paper builds on the scarce knowledge available in order to examine the economic, social, and institutional determinants of local government transparency in Spain. We draw on a 2010 survey and the transparency indexes constructed by the NGO Transparency International (Spain) in order to move beyond the fiscal transparency addressed in previous work. In so doing, we broaden the analysis of transparency to the corporate, social, fiscal, contracting, and planning activities of governments. Our results on overall transparency indicate that large municipalities and left-wing local government leaders are associated with better transparency indexes; while the worst results are presented by provincial capitals, cities where tourist activity is particularly important and local governments that enjoy an absolute majority. The analysis of other transparency categories generally shows the consistent impact of these determinants and the need to consider a wider set of variables to capture their effect

Factors d'èxit i fracàs en la col·laboració público-privada per al finançament d'infraestructures viàries

En les últimes dècades, el paper del sector privat en el desenvolupament, en la gestió i en el finançament de les infraestructures ha augmentat considerablement a tot el món. Per un costat, les necessitats d'inversió i desenvolupament d'una xarxa d'infraestructures que canalitzi el creixement econòmic i satisfaci les necessitats bàsiques de mobilitat ha fonamentat l'interès dels governs de les economies en desenvolupament, que, disposant de sistemes fiscals febles, han buscat solucions en el sector privat. Per l'altre costat, les restriccions pressupostàries i l'elevat cost de manteniment de les xarxes existents en els països desenvolupats promouen també la cerca del finançament necessari per fer front als reptes de la mobilitat en un context de consolidació fiscal, quan no d'austeritat. Amb tot, la participació privada en les infraestructures de transport és una realitat. Una realitat, però, complexa i no deslligada de perills i dificultats que poden convertir-la en una mala alternativa

Road safety determinants: do political institutions matter?

In 2010 the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 64/255 declaring 2011-2020 the Decade of Action for Road Safety with the main goal of stabilizing and then reducing the level of road traffic fatalities (United Nations, 2010). Support for this action from the world's governments reflects the growing awareness that road traffic accidents and fatalities constitute a global public health problem. In short, the fact that 1.24 million people lost their lives on the roads in 2010 (World Health Organization [WHO], 2013a) and that traffic injuries were the eighth leading cause of death globally (Lozano et al., 2012) can no longer be overlooked

Entry Regulation Asymmetries and Gasoline Competition in a Mixed Motorway Network

Regulatory and funding asymmetries in the Spanish motorway network produce huge differences in the structure of gasoline markets by motorway type: free or toll. While competition is encouraged among gas stations on free motorways, the regulations for toll motorways allow private concessionaires to auction all gas stations to the same provider, thereby limiting competition and consolidating market power. This paper reports how this regulatory asymmetry results in higher prices and fewer gas stations. Specifically, we show that competition is constrained on toll motorways by the granting of geographical monopolies, resulting in a small number of rivals operating in close proximity to each other, and allowing gas stations to operate as local monopolies. The lack of competition would seem to account for the price differential between toll and free motorways. According to available evidence, deregulation measures affecting toll motorway concessions could help to mitigate price inefficiencies and increase consumer welfare

Road safety determinants: do institutions matter? [WP]

Road safety is a global health problem and its severity in developing countries highlights the need for research to address its causes. We explore the effect of institutional variables on road safety, redressing the literature’s failure to consider political institutions as road safety determinants. Specifically, we analyze the effect on traffic accidents and fatalities of different political regimes, electoral rules and forms of government and we control for other factors. By drawing on an international sample of countries taken over a long time-span, we find that democratic institutions are associated with better road safety. The beneficial effects of democratization become apparent after about four years in countries undergoing a regime transition and are also discernible in established democracies that are consolidating their political institutions. Finally, our results suggest that road safety can be characterized as a local public good and that its provision is greater in parliamentary systems

Introduction to the Special Issue on the Economics of Parking

The Economics of Parking is an emerging research area attracting growing attention of transportation economists as well as engineers, planners, practitioners and policy makers. Analyzing parking behavior and the effects of its supply, demand and regulation has become essential for our understanding of major aspects of mobility, such as modal choice, congestion costs, car ownership decisions, and destination choice. ..

High Speed Rail and Tourism: Empirical evidence from Spain

This paper evaluates how changes in the provision of high-speed rail (HSR) services affect tourism outcomes in Spain, a tourist country with the newest and longest HSR network in Europe. To do so it employs an empirical strategy based on the differences-in-differences panel data method with double fixed effects. Data are provided by Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE) and cover 50 provinces over a 15-year time span (1998-2013). Our results provide mixed evidence about the impact of HSR accessibility on tourist outcomes. On the one hand, we find that air traffic is negatively affected by HSR and air traffic is a strong predictor of tourist arrivals. This suggests a negative indirect effect of HSR on tourist outcomes. ..

The impact of curbside parking regulation on garage demand

Parking regulation is seen as a good option to encourage modal shift in order to tackle congestion and pollution in metropolitan areas. Market-clearing curbside pricing is rarely implemented and policy makers have tended to make off-street parking provision their main tool to address excessive curbside demand. Research devoted to garage parking is far less well developed, even though public authorities provide both curbside and garage parking that compete with privately operated facilities. In this paper the impact of garage fare and curbside regulation characteristics (fare and type of dedicated spaces) on garage parking demand are investigated. Aggregate occasional and subscribers parking demand is analyzed by means of two different econometric models estimated using a panel from Barcelona's public parking authority (BSM) that covers 34 garage facilities with yearly data for the period 2006-2012. We find that both demand segments show a negative elasticity to garage fare. Only occasional parkers show a clear substitution effect with a curbside premium ( 0.55/h). Our finding suggests that the actual pricing efficiency gap in Barcelona can range between 0.45 and 1.05 due to the mismatch between curbside and garage pricing regimes; for which we propose some policy alternatives. This stresses the need for a single integrated market approach to parking management, in order to overcome market distortions and achieve efficiency. Additionally, our results show that the characteristics of curbside parking spaces (allowance and time limits) play a role in garage demand determination, yet pricing is much more efficient trigger for behavioral change