Market power and the need for regulation in the German airport market

With the increasing profit orientation of German airport operators the question as to weather they possess market power is gaining more importance. Whereas there have been some studies about the degree of market power of individual airports in countries as Australia and Great Britain, the German airport market has not yet been studied in detail. This paper is a part of a research project that tries to assess market power in this market. It indicates which of the 35 examined German airports possess market power and therefore need special regulatory attendence. We calculate a substitution coefficient for inter-airport competition that quantifies the quality of the best substitute for a certain airport. It is defined as the proportion of inhabitants within the relevant regional market of an airport that consider another airport, which has been identified as meeting the demands of the airlines, to be a good substitute from their perspective as well. The analysis is complemented by an assessment of intermodal substitution and countervailing power of airlines. The study gives strong indication that 23 out of the 35 German airports do not possess relevant market power. In contrast to this, four airports (HAM, FRA, MUC, STR) and Berlin Airport System (THF, TXL, SXF) have strong, five (BRE, DRS, LEJ, NUE, HAJ) have modest market power. The results provide a basis for the construction of an efficient regulatory framework for the German airport market.airport competition, counterveiling power, market power, substitution

Measuring Efficiency of German Bus Public Transport

This paper quantifies the technical efficiency of German bus companies and elaborates on the main factors influencing their performance. Efficiency is measured with a stochastic production frontier. We test for the impact on efficiency of ownership structure and participation at tendering. Furthermore, we investigate the influence on efficiency when a bus company is a part of a multi-product enterprise. The results yield insights how public bus companies might improve their performance in order to cope with the changing market environment. The mean technical efficiency of the investigated bus companies is around 87 percent. Bus companies with participation at tendering show a significantly higher mean efficiency than other companies. The ownership structure has no influence on technical efficiency.Stochastic Frontier Analysis, Production Function, Public Transport, Efficiency Analysis,

Durchsetzung von Partialinteressen in politischen Märkten am Beispiel Metrorapid

Vieles spricht gegenwärtig dafür, dass der Transrapid in Deutschland auf Kurzstrecken gebaut werden dürfte, obwohl konkurrierende Verkehrsinfrastrukturprojekte einen sehr viel höheren volkswirtschaftlichen Nutzen aufweisen. Warum hat der Metrorapid gute Realisierungschancen? Wie kommt es, dass sich auf politischen Märkten Partialinteressen gegen die Interessen der Allgemeinheit durchsetzen können

Durchsetzung von Partialinteressen in politischen Märkten am Beispiel Metrorapid

Vieles spricht gegenwärtig dafür, dass der Transrapid in Deutschland auf Kurzstrecken gebaut werden dürfte, obwohl konkurrierende Verkehrsinfrastrukturprojekte einen sehr viel höheren volkswirtschaftlichen Nutzen aufweisen. Warum hat der Metrorapid gute Realisierungschancen? Wie kommt es, dass sich auf politischen Märkten Partialinteressen gegen die Interessen der Allgemeinheit durchsetzen können? --

Airport incentive programs: A European perspective

In this paper we investigate current pricing practices at the 200 biggest airports in the European Union. Our analysis shows that airport incentive programs are, in general, a common tool of airport pricing as they are used at one third of all airports. We also find evidence on the presence of bilateral agreements between airport operators or regional authorities on one side and airlines on the other side which serve as a substitute for published incentive programs. Geographically, usage of the different tools varies substantially between different EU countries. A detailed assessment of the incentive schemes offered at German airports within our broader European sample reveals that the average level of landing and take-off, parking and positioning and passenger charges is generally reduced by more than 10%, at smaller airports even by up to 44%. Given the usually low profit margin of airlines and that airport charges account for up to 10% of total operating costs, these incentives can have an important influence on the economic viability of a route. Moreover, in an airline's multi-criteria-based assessment of potential market entries or route expansions, such incentive schemes might compensate selected weaknesses of an airport's strategic posture

Variation in sport participation, fitness and motor coordination with socioeconomic status among Flemish children

Socioeconomic status (SES) is often indicated as a factor that influences physical activity and associated health outcomes. This study examined the relationship between SES and sport participation, morphology, fitness and motor coordination in a sample of 1955 Flemish children 6-11 years of age. Gender, age and SES-specific values for morphologic dimensions, amount and type of sport participation and fitness and motor coordination tests were compared. SES was positively and significantly associated with sport participation and sports club membership in both sexes. Although differences were not consistently significant, morphologic dimensions and tests of fitness and motor coordination showed a trend in favor of children from higher SES. The results suggest that public and local authorities should consider providing equal opportunities for children in all social strata and especially those in the lower SES to experience the beneficial effects of sport participation through which they can enhance levels of physical fitness and motor coordination

Au fil du plomb de la Seine

Au cours du xixe s., de nombreux contenants funéraires en plomb d’époque romaine ont été découverts dans l’estuaire de la Seine (fig. 1) : des vases ossuaires mis au jour à Lillebonne et ses alentours aux cercueils des environs de Rouen, ils intriguent les érudits locaux et moins locaux, qui relient rapidement la présence de ce métal en grande quantité, dans une région où aucune mine antique n’est connue, à la richesse plombifère de la province proche de Britannia (actuelle Angleterre), par ..

Assessment of reliability in isokinetic testing among adolescent basketball players

Background. The reproducibility of day-to-day testing of isokinetic concentric and eccentric muscular actions among adolescent basketball players aged 14 to 16 years and relationships of mean within-subject variation in two isokinetic testing sessions with chronological age, biological maturation (estimated age at peak height velocity), training experience, body size, lower-body morphology, and initial strength performance were evaluated. Material and Methods. The sample included 27 basketball players who completed replicate test sessions of 5 repetitions of reciprocal concentric and eccentric knee extensions and flexions at 60 degrees s(-1). A randomly selected subsample of 8 players completed a third testing session to confirm reliability estimates. Results. Coefficients of variation (CV) between sessions 1 and 2 ranged from 8.1% to 17.4%, and intraclass coefficients (ICCs) ranged from 0.72 to 0.89. For sessions 1 and 3, CVs ranged from 3.9% to 6.0%, and ICCs ranged from 0.95 to 0.99. The initial level of strength of eccentric knee flexion (r=-0.43) and eccentric knee extension (r=-0.42) were correlated (P<0.05) with eccentric knee extension within-variation between two sessions. Training experience (r=-0.37, P<0.05) and initial values of concentric knee flexion (r=-0.62, P<0.01) were correlated with concentric knee flexion within-subject differences. Within-subject variation of eccentric knee extension was correlated (P<0.05) with chronologic age (r=0.41), estimated age at peak height velocity (r=-0.38), body size (r=0.41 to 0.47), and leg volume (r=0.39). Conclusions. Familiarization sessions may improve the reliability of concentric and eccentric knee isokinetic strength testing at 60 s(-1) in adolescent basketball players. Age, maturity status, and training experience of young athletes should be considered when testing knee isokinetic strength at 60 degrees s(-1)

Relative Age and Maturation Selection Biases in Academy Football

This study examined the simultaneous effects of relative age and biological maturity status upon player selection in an English professional soccer academy. A total of 202 players from the U9 to U16 age groups, over an eight-year period (total of 566 observations), had their relative age (birth quarter) and biological maturity (categorised as late, on-time or early maturing based upon the Khamis-Roche method of percentage of predicted adult height at time of observation) recorded. Players born in the first birth quarter of the year (54.8%) were over-represented across all age groups. A selection bias towards players advanced in maturity status for chronological age emerged in U12 players and increased with age; 0% of players in the U15 and U16 age group were categorised as late maturing. A clear maturity selection bias for early maturing players was, however, only apparent when the least conservative criterion for estimating maturity status was applied (53.8% early and 1.9% late maturing in the U16 age group). Professional football academies need to recognise relative age and maturation as independent constructs that exist and operate independently. Thus, separate strategies should perhaps be designed to address the respective selection biases, to better identify, retain and develop players