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Open Skies: Estimating Travelers' Benefits from Free Trade in Airline Services

Author

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  • Clifford Winston
  • Jia Yan

Abstract

The United States has negotiated bilateral open skies agreements to deregulate airline competition on US international routes, but little is known about their effects on travelers' welfare and the gains from the US negotiating agreements with more countries. We develop a model of international airline competition to estimate the effects of open skies agreements on fares and flight frequency. We find the agreements have generated at least $4 billion in annual gains to travelers and that travelers would gain an additional $4 billion if the US negotiated agreements with other countries that have a significant amount of international passenger traffic. (JEL D12, L11, L51, L93, L98)

Suggested Citation

  • Clifford Winston & Jia Yan, 2015. "Open Skies: Estimating Travelers' Benefits from Free Trade in Airline Services," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 7(2), pages 370-414, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:7:y:2015:i:2:p:370-414
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/pol.20130071
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Linfeng & Yang, Hangjun & Wang, Kun & Zhan, Yi & Bian, Lei, 2020. "Measuring imported case risk of COVID-19 from inbound international flights --- A case study on China," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    2. Demet Yilmazkuday & Hakan Yilmazkuday, 2017. "The role of direct flights in trade costs," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 153(2), pages 249-270, May.
    3. Anca D. Cristea & Russell Hillberry & Aaditya Mattoo, 2015. "Open Skies over the Middle East," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(11), pages 1650-1681, November.
    4. Abate, Megersa & Christidis, Panayotis, 2020. "The impact of air transport market liberalization: Evidence from EU's external aviation policy," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    5. Abate, Megersa, 2016. "Economic effects of air transport market liberalization in Africa," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 326-337.
    6. Ya-Yen Sun & Pei-Chun Lin, 2019. "How far will we travel? A global distance pattern of international travel from both demand and supply perspectives," Tourism Economics, , vol. 25(8), pages 1200-1223, December.
    7. Abate, Megersa & Christidis, Panayotis & Purwanto, Alloysius Joko, 2020. "Government support to airlines in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Spence, Tyler B. & Leib, Steven M., 2024. "Negotiating international aviation: Analyzing the contribution of politics to the United States' open skies agreements through democratic peace theory," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    9. Wu, You & Lange, Anne & Mantin, Benny, 2022. "Who benefits from air service agreements? The case of international air cargo operations," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 281-303.
    10. Oum, Tae Hoon & Wu, Xiangru & Wang, Kun, 2024. "Impact of air connectivity on bilateral service export and import trade: The case of China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 219-233.
    11. Tchouamou Njoya, Eric & Buhari Isah, Aliyu, 2023. "Assessing the economic impact of the single African air transport market: The case of Tanzania," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    12. Jaimin Lee & Seong-Hoon Cho, 2017. "Free trade agreement and transport service trade," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(7), pages 1494-1512, July.
    13. Zhang, Linfeng & Hou, Meng & Liu, Yichen & Wang, Kun & Yang, Hangjun, 2022. "Measuring Beijing's international air connectivity and suggestions for improvement post COVID-19," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 132-143.
    14. Liu, Shaoxuan & Oum, Tae Hoon, 2018. "Prospects for air policy liberalization in China as a Result of China-ASEAN Open Skies: Changing role of Chinese mega carriers in global scene and anticipated Low Cost Carrier competition," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1-9.
    15. Bilotkach, Volodymyr & Caro-Burnett, Johann & Khan, Ghulam Dastgir & Sembiring, Benny Lala & Yoshida, Yuichiro, 2021. "Measuring the impact of ASEAN Open Skies on international air traffic movements from and to Southeast Asian Cities," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 368-378.
    16. Zakharenko, Roman & Luttmann, Alexander, 2023. "Downsizing the jet: A forecast of economic effects of increased automation in aviation," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 25-47.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation
    • L98 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Government Policy

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