Distance decay in activity chains analysis. A Belgian case study

This paper aims at measuring and testing the distance decay effect in activity chains. It enables one to show how far distance constrains the length of the trips and if there are borders effects. Two Belgian data bases are used: one conducted at the national level, the other at a regional level. Statistical tests are conducted for (1) several definitions of the trip and chain, (2) several distance measurements (time or kilometers), (3) several purposes of trips, and (4) different categories of travellers. This exploratory data analysis enables one to gain information about the spatial aspects of the activity chains and to get a better fit in the gravity type models.

Strategic interactions in public R&D across EU-15 countries : A spatial econometric analysis

The aim of this paper is to test the presence of strategic interactions in government spending on Research and Development (R&D), among EU-15 countries. We add to the literature on public choice strategic interactions in general, and to work on R&D spending in particular. We take account of traditional and some rather overlooked factors related to countries' public R&D spending, including (i) the international context - i.e. Lisbon strategy ; (ii) country characteristics - the National System of Innovation ; (iii) national similarities in relation to (a) trade and economic size and (b) sectoral specialization. Sectoral specialization is likely to affect government spending, depending on the mechanisms of complementarity or substitution between public and private R&D. Using a dynamic spatial panel model in which spatial matrices are specified in terms of traditional Euclidean distance, and sectoral specialization proximity, we confirm the existence of strategic interactions in relation to R&D spending among European countries with similar economic, international trade and sectoral structure perspectives. Unlike the results for strategic interactions in public choice, geographic proximity seems not to affect interactions related to public spending on R&D

How to incorporate the spatial dimension within destination choice models? The case of Antwerpen

This paper considers different alternatives for including spatial aspects within the activity-based approach for modeling destination choices. The study area is the urban agglomeration of Antwerpen (Belgium); the city and its suburbs are considered. Individual travel surveys are used. The paper pays particular attention to the inclusion of space within the decision context by including specific land-use explanatory variables generated by Geographical Information Systems. A preliminary geographical analysis is performed in order to represent the city by a limited set of destinations (n = 33) and to characterize those zones in terms of land use. Discrete choice modelling is used: each individual faces the total set of spatial destination alternatives. Several modelling approaches are explored and compared in terms of utility function (for instance Box-Cox; random coefficients) and in terms of global formulation (multinomial logit versus nested logit). The mixed nested logit formulation is selected as best and the parameter estimations are interpreted; it shows the importance of space within destination choices. This paper provides a useful background for decision-makers and planners of transportation policy related to individual mobility patterns. Keywords Discrete choice model, activity-based approach, GIS, land use, urban mobility, Antwerpen

Policy packages for modal shift and CO2 reduction in Lille, France

This paper proposes different policy scenarios to cut CO2 emissions caused by the urban mobility of passengers. More precisely, we compare the effects of the ‘direct tool’ of carbon tax, to a combination of ‘indirect tools’ – not originally aimed at reducing CO2 (i.e. congestion charging, parking charges and a reduction in public transport travel time) in terms of CO2 impacts through a change in the modal split. In our model, modal choices depend on individual characteristics, trip features (including the effects of policy tools), and land use at origin and destination zones. Personal “CO2 emissions budgets” resulting from the trips observed in the metropolitan area of Lille (France) in 2006 are calculated and compared to the situation related to the different policy scenarios. We find that an increase of 50% in parking charges combined with a cordon toll of €1.20 and a 10% travel time decrease in public transport services (made after recycling toll-revenues) is the winning scenario. The combined effects of all the policy scenarios are superior to their separate effects

La valeur du temps pour les déplacements à longue distance : une évaluation sur données françaises

International audienc

Is there a "zoo effect" in French local governments?

From the observation that many public goods –such as zoos– are indivisible, OATES (1988) put forward the idea that the range of public goods should increase with localities’ size; this is the “zoo effect”. But despite this argument appears obvious, it suffers from a limited empirical literature. Therefore, the purpose of the present paper is to test this theoretical argument using data on French inter-municipalities, i.e. local governments that gather several municipalities together in order to manage some local goods. Depending on their spatial position, we split our data set into three groups: urban, suburban and rural inter-municipalities. Using spatial econometrics, estimation results provide evidence for the existence of a zoo effect in French inter-municipalities. In other terms, we find that the variety of services provided in larger inter-municipalities exceeds those in smaller communities. Moreover, the intensity of the zoo effect depends on the urban-rural gradient. It is less intense in the suburban and rural areas than in the urban communities

The range of local public services and population size: Is there a "zoo effect" in French jurisdictions?

JEL classification: H4; H7International audienceThis article contributes to the small literature on the relationship between the range of local public services and population size. Using new data on French local jurisdictions, we test the hypothesis that larger jurisdictions provide a broader range of public goods (the so-called “zoo effect”, Oates (1988)). We take advantage of the fact that, in France, many municipalities recently joined together, forming groups of municipalities (or communities) in order to achieve economies of scale. Using spatial econometrics, we find some evidence for the existence of a zoo effect in French communities. In other terms, larger communities provide a broader range of services than smaller ones. The intensity of the zoo effect is higher in urban than in rural areas.Cet article est une contribution originale sur la relation entre la gamme des services publics locaux et la taille de la population. Cette étude est menée sur une base de données sur les collectivités locales françaises et teste l’existence d’un effet zoo (Oates, 1988), c’est-à-dire l’idée que la gamme des biens publics locaux offerts augmente avec la taille des collectivités. À l’aide de l’économétrie spatiale, nous montrons l’existence d’un effet zoo dans les groupements intercommunaux français qui ont été créés afin de réaliser des économies d’échelle. En d’autres termes, nous trouvons que la variété des services offerts est proportionnelle à la taille de population du groupement. Nous montrons également que cet effet zoo est plus intense dans les zones urbaines que rurales