Strategic investment and pricing decisions in a congested transport corridor.

This paper studies pricing and investment decisions on a congested transport corridor where the elements of the corridor are controlled by different governments. A corridor can be an interstate highway or railway line, or an inter-modal connection. We model the simplest corridor: two transport links in series, where each of the links is controlled by a different government. Each link is used by transit as well as by local traffic; both links are subject to congestion. We consider a two stage noncooperative game where both governments strategically set capacity in the first stage and play a pricing game in the second stage. Three pricing regimes are distinguished: (i) differentiated tolls between local and transit transport, (ii) one uniform toll on local and transit traffic, and (iii) only the local users can be tolled. Numerical analysis illustrates all theoretical insights. A number of interesting results are obtained. First, transit tolls on the network will be inefficiently high. If only local traffic can be tolled, however, the Nash equilibrium tolls are inefficiently low. Second, raising the toll on transit through a given country by one euro raises the toll on the whole trajectory by less than one euro. Third, higher capacity investment in a given region not only reduces optimal tolls in this region under all pricing regimes but it also increases the transit tolls on the other link of the corridor. Fourth, capacities in the different regions are strategic complements: when one country on the corridor increases transport capacity, it forces the other country to do the same. Fifth, we find interesting interactions between optimal capacities and the set of pricing instruments used: capacity with differentiated tolls is substantially higher than in the case of uniform tolls but overall welfare is lower. Finally, if transit is sufficiently important, it may be welfare improving not to allow any tolling at all, or to only allow the tolling of locals.Investment; Pricing; Decisions; Decision; Transport;

The interaction between tolls and capacity investment in serial and parallel transport networks.

Investment; Serial; Transport; Networks; Working;

Private port pricing and public investment in port and hinterland capacity.

Investment; Pricing; Decisions; Decision; Transport;

Lønnsomhetsvurdering ved omregulering av det norske pengespillmarkedet: En empirisk studie av pengespillmarkedet, med erfaringer fra Danmark og Sverige

I denne utredningen har vi analysert lønnsomheten knyttet til omregulering av det norske pengespillmarkedet. Markedet er regulert slik at Norsk Tipping har enerett på pengespill og kasino, men det er ikke slik at dette hindrer uregulerte utenlandske aktører i å tiltrekke seg norske kunder. En forutsetning for å omregulere markedet er at det ikke går på bekostning av midlene som hvert år går fra Norsk Tipping og Norsk Rikstoto til samfunnsnyttige formål (Kultur- og Likestillingsdeparmentet, 2016). Samtidig er det viktig at en omregulering ikke går på bekostning av hensynet til spilleavhengige. Ved omregulering av markedet har vi tatt utgangspunkt i at dette vil gjelde for spillområdene sport- og instaspill, da det er på disse områdene at man opplever utfordringer i dagens enerettsmodell. Vi har sett på hvordan omreguleringen av disse spillområdene vil påvirke inntekten til samfunnsnyttige formål når pengespillmodellen endres fra enerett til å møte konkurranse fra utenlandske aktører. Lønnsomheten av omregulering er uttrykt gjennom endring i netto nåverdi, sammenlignet med en videreføring av dagens enerettsmodell. Funnene i analysen viser at inntekten til samfunnsnyttige formål vil øke dersom man velger å omregulere markedet. Vi har valgt å se på tre ulike skattesatser for de lisensierte selskapene, 15%, 20%, og 25%. Våre funn antyder at en omregulering vil være lønnsomt uavhengig av valgt skattesats, men at inntekten vil være størst ved en skattesats på 25%. Norske myndigheter ønsker å ivareta hensynet til de spilleavhengige og de samfunnsøkonomiske kostnadene som følge av dette. Funnene i analysen antyder at en optimal skattesats vil ligge mellom 15% og 25% avhengig av hvor mye man verdsetter hensynet til spillavhengige opp mot inntektsmaksimering. Etter omregulering vil prisene i det regulerte markedet reduseres, noe som vil gagne spillerne. En lisensmodell med skattesats 20% hvor prisen på spill er 6%, vil gi samfunnet en merinntekt på i overkant av 1,1 milliarder kroner i perioden 2021-2025, sammenlignet med en videreføring av dagens enerettsmodell.nhhma

How large is the gap between present and efficient transport prices in Europe?

In this paper we analyse the gap between present transport prices and efficient transport prices. Efficient transport prices are those prices that maximise economic welfare, including external costs (congestion, air pollution, accidents). The methodology is applied to six urban and interregional case studies using one common optimal pricing model. The case studies cover passenger as well as freight transport and cover all modes. We find that prices need to be raised most for peak urban passenger car transport and to a lesser extent for interregional road transport. Optimal pricing results for public transport are more mixed. We show that current external costs on congested roads are a bad guide for optimal taxes and tolls: the optimal toll that takes into account the reaction of demand is often less than one third of the present marginal external cost.transport pricing; external costs; social costs; congestion pricing

Evaluation of MUSICA IASI tropospheric water vapour profiles using theoretical error assessments and comparisons to GRUAN Vaisala RS92 measurements

Volume mixing ratio water vapour profiles have been retrieved from IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) spectra using the MUSICA (MUlti-platform remote Sensing of Isotopologues for investigating the Cycle of Atmospheric water) processor. The retrievals are done for IASI observations that coincide with Vaisala RS92 radiosonde measurements performed in the framework of the GCOS (Global Climate Observing System) Reference Upper-Air Network (GRUAN) in three different climate zones: the tropics (Manus Island, 2°S), mid-latitudes (Lindenberg, 52°N), and polar regions (Sodankylä, 67°N). The retrievals show good sensitivity with respect to the vertical H2O distribution between 1km above ground and the upper troposphere. Typical DOFS (degrees of freedom for signal) values are about 5.6 for the tropics, 5.1 for summertime mid-latitudes, 3.8 for wintertime mid-latitudes, and 4.4 for summertime polar regions. The errors of the MUSICA IASI water vapour profiles have been theoretically estimated considering the contribution of many different uncertainty sources. For all three climate regions, unrecognized cirrus clouds and uncertainties in atmospheric temperature have been identified as the most important error sources and they can reach about 25%. The MUSICA IASI water vapour profiles have been compared to 100 individual coincident GRUAN water vapour profiles. The systematic difference between the data is within 11% below 12km altitude; however, at higher altitudes the MUSICA IASI data show a dry bias with respect to the GRUAN data of up to 21%. The scatter is largest close to the surface (30%), but never exceeds 21% above 1km altitude. The comparison study documents that the MUSICA IASI retrieval processor provides H2O profiles that capture the large variations in H2O volume mixing ratio profiles well from 1km above ground up to altitudes close to the tropopause. Above 5km the observed scatter with respect to GRUAN data is in reasonable agreement with the combined MUSICA IASI and GRUAN random errors. The increased scatter at lower altitudes might be explained by surface emissivity uncertainties at the summertime continental sites of Lindenberg and Sodankylä, and the upper tropospheric dry bias might suggest deficits in correctly modelling the spectroscopic line shapes of water vapour

Characterisation of the bacterial and fungal communities associated with different lesion sizes of Dark Spot Syndrome occurring in the Coral Stephanocoenia intersepta

The number and prevalence of coral diseases/syndromes are increasing worldwide. Dark Spot Syndrome (DSS) afflicts numerous coral species and is widespread throughout the Caribbean, yet there are no known causal agents. In this study we aimed to characterise the microbial communities (bacteria and fungi) associated with DSS lesions affecting the coral Stephanocoenia intersepta using nonculture molecular techniques. Bacterial diversity of healthy tissues (H), those in advance of the lesion interface (apparently healthy AH), and three sizes of disease lesions (small, medium, and large) varied significantly (ANOSIM R = 0.052 p,0.001), apart from the medium and large lesions, which were similar in their community profile. Four bacteria fitted into the pattern expected from potential pathogens; namely absent from H, increasing in abundance within AH, and dominant in the lesions themselves. These included ribotypes related to Corynebacterium (KC190237), Acinetobacter (KC190251), Parvularculaceae (KC19027), and Oscillatoria (KC190271). Furthermore, two Vibrio species, a genus including many proposed coral pathogens, dominated the disease lesion and were absent from H and AH tissues, making them candidates as potential pathogens for DSS. In contrast, other members of bacteria from the same genus, such as V. harveyii were present throughout all sample types, supporting previous studies where potential coral pathogens exist in healthy tissues. Fungal diversity varied significantly as well, however the main difference between diseased and healthy tissues was the dominance of one ribotype, closely related to the plant pathogen, Rhytisma acerinum, a known causal agent of tar spot on tree leaves. As the corals’ symbiotic algae have been shown to turn to a darker pigmented state in DSS (giving rise to the syndromes name), the two most likely pathogens are R. acerinum and the bacterium Oscillatoria, which has been identified as the causal agent of the colouration in Black Band Disease, another widespread coral disease

Second best toll and capacity optimisation in network: solution algorithm and policy implications

This paper looks at the first and second-best jointly optimal toll and road capacity investment problems from both policy and technical oriented perspectives. On the technical side, the paper investigates the applicability of the constraint cutting algorithm for solving the second-best problem under elastic demand which is formulated as a bilevel programming problem. The approach is shown to perform well despite several problems encountered by our previous work in Shepherd and Sumalee (2004). The paper then applies the algorithm to a small sized network to investigate the policy implications of the first and second-best cases. This policy analysis demonstrates that the joint first best structure is to invest in the most direct routes while reducing capacities elsewhere. Whilst unrealistic this acts as a useful benchmark. The results also show that certain second best policies can achieve a high proportion of the first best benefits while in general generating a revenue surplus. We also show that unless costs of capacity are known to be low then second best tolls will be affected and so should be analysed in conjunction with investments in the network