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The Value of "Value Pricing" of Roads: Second-Best Pricing and Product Differentiation

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Author Info
Small, Kenneth
Yan, Jia

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Abstract

Some road-pricing demonstrations use an approach called "value pr icing", in which travelers can choose between a free but congested roadway and a priced roadway. Recent research has uncovered a potentially serious problem for such demonstrations: in certain models, second-best tolls are far lower than those typically charged, and the welfare gains from profit maximization are small or even negative. That research, however , assumes that all travelers are identical, and it therefore neglects the benefits of product differentiation, by which people with different values of time can choose a suitable cost/quality combination. Using a model with two user groups, we find that accounting for heterogeneity in value of time is important in evaluating constrained policies, and improves the relative performance of policies that offer differential prices. Nevertheless, for most of the reasonable range of heterogeneity, second-best pricing produces far fewer benefits than pricing both roadways optimally, and profit-maximizing tolls are so high that over all welfare is reduced from the no-toll baseline.

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Paper provided by Resources For the Future in its series Discussion Papers with number dp-00-08.

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Date of creation: 01 Jan 2000
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Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-00-08

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  1. Bradford, Richard M., 1996. "Pricing, routing, and incentive compatibility in multiserver queues," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 226-236, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Braid, Ralph M., 1996. "Peak-Load Pricing of a Transportation Route with an Unpriced Substitute," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 179-197, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Liu, Louie Nan & McDonald, John F., 1998. "Efficient Congestion Tolls in the Presence of Unpriced Congestion: A Peak and Off-Peak Simulation Model," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 352-366, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Verhoef, E.T. & Small, K.A., 1999. "Product Differentiation on Roads Second-Best Congestion Pricing with Heterogeneity under Public and Private Ownership," Papers 99-00-01, California Irvine - School of Social Sciences.
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  5. Verhoef, Erik & Nijkamp, Peter & Rietveld, Piet, 1996. "Second-Best Congestion Pricing: The Case of an Untolled Alternative," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 279-302, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Viton Philip A., 1995. "Private Roads," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 260-289, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Arnott, Richard & de Palma, Andre & Lindsey, Robin, 1992. "Route choice with heterogeneous drivers and group-specific congestion costs," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 71-102, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Hideo Konishi, 2001. "Uniqueness of User Equilibrium in Transportation Networks with Heterogeneous Commuters," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 494, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 14 Nov 2002. [Downloadable!]
  2. Lei Zhang & David Levinson, 2006. "Economics of Road Network Ownership," Working Papers 000009, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group. [Downloadable!]
  3. Erik T. Verhoef & Kenneth A. Small, 1999. "Product Differentiation on Roads: Second-Best Congestion Pricing with Heterogeneity under Public and Private Ownership," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 99-066/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Parry, Ian & Harrington, Winston & Nelson, Per-Kristian & Safirova, Elena & Mason, Dave & Gillingham, Kenneth, 2003. "Welfare and Distributional Effects of Road Pricing Schemes for Metropolitan Washington, DC," Discussion Papers dp-03-57, Resources For the Future. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Marvin Kraus, 2002. "A New Look at the Two-Mode Problem," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 551, Boston College Department of Economics. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Andre De Palma & Moez Kilani & Robin Lindsey, 2006. "The Economics of Truck Toll Lanes," ERSA conference papers ersa06p896, European Regional Science Association. [Downloadable!]
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  7. Parry, Ian, 2001. "How Should Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Finance Its Transportation Deficit?," Discussion Papers dp-01-12, Resources For the Future. [Downloadable!]
  8. Paul Calcott & Shuntian Yao, 2005. "Competition between highway operators: can we expect toll differentiation?," Economic Growth centre Working Paper Series 0504, Nanyang Technolgical University, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Economic Growth centre. [Downloadable!]
  9. Parry, Ian & Bento, Antonio, 2000. "Estimating the Welfare Effect of Congestion Taxes: The Critical Importance of Other Distortions within the Transport System," Discussion Papers dp-00-51, Resources For the Future. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Bruno De Borger & Stef Proost & Kurt Van Dender, 2003. "Congestion and tax competition in a parallel network," Energy, Transport and Environment Working Papers Series ete0309, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centrum voor Economische Studiën, Energy, Transport and Environment. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Bruno De Borger & Fay Dunkerley & Stef Proost, 2008. "The Interaction between Tolls and Capacity Investment in Serial and Parallel Transport Networks," Review of Network Economics, Concept Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 136-158, March. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Winston T.H. Koh, 2003. "Congestion Control and Vehicle Ownership Restriction: The Choice of an Optimal Quota Policy," Working Papers 03-2004, Singapore Management University, School of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  13. Erin T. Mansur & Sheila M. Olmstead, 2007. "The Value of Scarce Water: Measuring the Inefficiency of Municipal Regulations," NBER Working Papers 13513, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. De Borger B., 2006. "Commuting, congestion tolls and noncompetitive labour markets: optimal congestion pricing in a wage bargaining model," Working Papers 2006014, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Applied Economics. [Downloadable!]
  15. Safirova, Elena A. & Houde, Sébastien & Lipman, D. Abram & Harrington, Winston & Bagliano, Andrew D., 2006. "Congestion Pricing: Long-Term Economic and Land-Use Effects," Discussion Papers dp-06-37, Resources For the Future. [Downloadable!]
  16. Christelle Viauroux, 2007. "Optimal pricing of endogenous congestion: a disaggregated approach," UMBC Economics Department Working Papers 09-107, UMBC Department of Economics, revised 17 Jul 2009. [Downloadable!]
  17. Kenneth A. Small & Clifford Winston & Jia Yan, 2005. "Differentiated Road Pricing, Express Lanes and Carpools: Exploiting Heterogeneous Preferences in Policy Design," Working Papers 050616, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2006. [Downloadable!]
  18. Calthrop E. & De Borger B. & Proost S., 2006. "Externalities and partial tax reform: Does it make sense to tax road freight (but not passenger) transport?," Working Papers 2006017, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Applied Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  19. Parry, Ian, 2000. "Comparing the Efficiency of Alternative Policies for Reducing Traffic Congestion," Discussion Papers dp-00-28, Resources For the Future. [Downloadable!]
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  20. C. Robin Lindsey & Erik T. Verhoef, 2000. "Traffic Congestion and Congestion Pricing," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 00-101/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
  21. Lei Zhang & David Levinson & Shanjiang Zhu, 2007. "Agent-Based Model of Price Competition and Product Differentiation on Congested Networks," Working Papers 200809, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group. [Downloadable!]
  22. Pedro Cantos-Sanchez & Rafael Moner-Colonques & Jose J. Sempere-Monerris & Oscar Alvarez, 2008. "Viability of a New Road Infrastructure with Heterogeneous Users in Madrid Access," Working Papers 2008-06, FEDEA. [Downloadable!]
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