IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v65y2014icp9-22.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Commuters’ mode choice as a coordination problem: A framed field experiment on traffic policy in Hyderabad, India

Author

Listed:
  • Chidambaram, Bhuvanachithra
  • Janssen, Marco A.
  • Rommel, Jens
  • Zikos, Dimitrios

Abstract

All major Indian cities face a severe transport crisis, with the number of cars on the road increasing every day. Policy makers are trying to keep pace with this growth by supplying more roads, largely neglecting demand-side policy measures. We have developed an economic experiment to investigate behavioral responses of citizens to such measures. Drawing on a sample of 204 white-collar commuters from Hyderabad, India, we model mode choice as a coordination problem and analyze how bus subsidies, increased parking costs, and public information on preferential car use can affect mode choice. We find that pecuniary treatments are effective for shifting behavior towards socially more desirable outcomes and increasing total benefits. Mode choice is relatively unaffected by socio-economic variables like gender, education or income but is significantly affected by actual traffic behavior. We discuss limitations of the applied sampling, conclude with a critical evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of economic experiments in transportation research, and offer an outlook on how further experimentation could enrich the policy debate.

Suggested Citation

  • Chidambaram, Bhuvanachithra & Janssen, Marco A. & Rommel, Jens & Zikos, Dimitrios, 2014. "Commuters’ mode choice as a coordination problem: A framed field experiment on traffic policy in Hyderabad, India," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 9-22.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:65:y:2014:i:c:p:9-22
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2014.03.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856414000792
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2014.03.014?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Bochet, Olivier & Page, Talbot & Putterman, Louis, 2006. "Communication and punishment in voluntary contribution experiments," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 11-26, May.
    3. Charness, Gary & Gneezy, Uri & Kuhn, Michael A., 2012. "Experimental methods: Between-subject and within-subject design," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 1-8.
    4. Francesco Guala & Luigi Mittone, 2005. "Experiments in economics: External validity and the robustness of phenomena," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 495-515.
    5. Glenn W. Harrison & Morten I. Lau & E. Elisabet Rutström, 2007. "Estimating Risk Attitudes in Denmark: A Field Experiment," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 109(2), pages 341-368, June.
    6. Gabuthy Yannick & Neveu Matthieu & Denant-Boemont Laurent, 2006. "The Coordination Problem in a Structural Model of Peak-Period Congestion: An Experimental Study," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(2), pages 1-26, June.
    7. Amos Tversky & Daniel Kahneman, 1991. "Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference-Dependent Model," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 1039-1061.
    8. Anthony Ziegelmeyer & Frédéric Koessler & Kene Boun My & Laurent Denant-Boèmont, 2008. "Road Traffic Congestion and Public Information: An Experimental Investigation," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 42(1), pages 43-82, January.
    9. Tiwari, Geetam & Jain, Deepty, 2012. "Accessibility and safety indicators for all road users: case study Delhi BRT," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 87-95.
    10. Glenn W. Harrison & John A. List, 2004. "Field Experiments," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(4), pages 1009-1055, December.
    11. J. Wootton, 1999. "Replacing the private car," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 157-175, January.
    12. Wahl, Charlotte, 2013. "Swedish municipalities and public participation in the traffic planning process – Where do we stand?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 105-112.
    13. Smith, Vernon L, 1976. "Experimental Economics: Induced Value Theory," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 66(2), pages 274-279, May.
    14. Viceisza, Angelino C.G., 2012. "Treating the field as a lab: A basic guide to conducting economics," Food security in practice technical guide series 7, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    15. Glenn W. Harrison, 2013. "Field experiments and methodological intolerance," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 103-117, June.
    16. Cropper, Maureen & Bhattacharya, Soma, 2007. "Public transport subsidies and affordability in Mumbai, India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4395, The World Bank.
    17. de Jong, Gerard, 2012. "Application of experimental economics in transport and logistics," European Transport \ Trasporti Europei, ISTIEE, Institute for the Study of Transport within the European Economic Integration, issue 50, pages 1-3.
    18. Beck, Matthew J. & Rose, John M. & Hensher, David A., 2013. "Environmental attitudes and emissions charging: An example of policy implications for vehicle choice," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 171-182.
    19. Sunitiyoso, Yos & Avineri, Erel & Chatterjee, Kiron, 2011. "The effect of social interactions on travel behaviour: An exploratory study using a laboratory experiment," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 332-344, May.
    20. David Sally, 1995. "Conversation and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas," Rationality and Society, , vol. 7(1), pages 58-92, January.
    21. Meyer, Michael D., 1999. "Demand management as an element of transportation policy: using carrots and sticks to influence travel behavior," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 33(7-8), pages 575-599.
    22. Knockaert, Jasper & Tseng, Yin-Yen & Verhoef, Erik T. & Rouwendal, Jan, 2012. "The Spitsmijden experiment: A reward to battle congestion," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 260-272.
    23. -, 2003. "Traffic congestion: the problem and how to deal with it," Cuadernos de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37898 edited by Eclac, November.
    24. P.R. Fouracre & M. Sohail & S. Cavill, 2006. "A Participatory Approach to Urban Transport Planning in Developing Countries," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 313-330, January.
    25. John Hartman, 2012. "Special Issue on Transport Infrastructure: A Route Choice Experiment with an Efficient Toll," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 205-222, June.
    26. Guo, Liya & Huang, Shan & Sadek, Adel W., 2013. "A novel agent-based transportation model of a university campus with application to quantifying the environmental cost of parking search," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 86-104.
    27. Karen Bickerstaff & Gordon Walker, 2001. "Participatory Local Governance and Transport Planning," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 33(3), pages 431-451, March.
    28. Pucher, John & Korattyswaropam, Nisha & Mittal, Neha & Ittyerah, Neenu, 2005. "Urban transport crisis in India," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 185-198, May.
    29. Mahmassani, Hani S. & Jou, Rong-Chang, 2000. "Transferring insights into commuter behavior dynamics from laboratory experiments to field surveys," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 243-260, May.
    30. Schuitema, Geertje & Steg, Linda & Forward, Sonja, 2010. "Explaining differences in acceptability before and acceptance after the implementation of a congestion charge in Stockholm," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 99-109, February.
    31. Selten, R. & Chmura, T. & Pitz, T. & Kube, S. & Schreckenberg, M., 2007. "Commuters route choice behaviour," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 394-406, February.
    32. Hisashi Ohtsuki & Yoh Iwasa & Martin A. Nowak, 2009. "Indirect reciprocity provides only a narrow margin of efficiency for costly punishment," Nature, Nature, vol. 457(7225), pages 79-82, January.
    33. Vollan, Bjørn, 2008. "Socio-ecological explanations for crowding-out effects from economic field experiments in southern Africa," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 560-573, November.
    34. Simon Gachter & Ernst Fehr, 2000. "Cooperation and Punishment in Public Goods Experiments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 980-994, September.
    35. Arthur Schram, 2005. "Artificiality: The tension between internal and external validity in economic experiments," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 225-237.
    36. Iida, Yasunori & Akiyama, Takamasa & Uchida, Takashi, 1992. "Experimental analysis of dynamic route choice behavior," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 17-32, February.
    37. Erev, Ido & Rapoport, Amnon, 1998. "Coordination, "Magic," and Reinforcement Learning in a Market Entry Game," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 146-175, May.
    38. Hayo, Bernd & Vollan, Björn, 2012. "Group interaction, heterogeneity, rules, and co-operative behaviour: Evidence from a common-pool resource experiment in South Africa and Namibia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 9-28.
    39. Yaron Hollander & Joseph Prashker, 2006. "The applicability of non-cooperative game theory in transport analysis," Transportation, Springer, vol. 33(5), pages 481-496, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Bernauer & Aseem Prakash & Liam F. Beiser‐McGrath, 2020. "Do exemptions undermine environmental policy support? An experimental stress test on the odd‐even road space rationing policy in India," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(3), pages 481-500, July.
    2. Yang, Zhisen & Yang, Zaili & Yin, Jingbo & Qu, Zhuohua, 2018. "A risk-based game model for rational inspections in port state control," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 477-495.
    3. Yen, Barbara T.H. & Mulley, Corinne & Meza, Gerardo, 2023. "Exploring the attitudes and perceptions influencing user participation in gamification schemes for TDM," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    4. Levy, Nadav & Klein, Ido & Ben-Elia, Eran, 2018. "Emergence of cooperation and a fair system optimum in road networks: A game-theoretic and agent-based modelling approach," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 46-55.
    5. Parmar, Janak & Saiyed, Gulnazbanu & Dave, Sanjaykumar, 2023. "Analysis of taste heterogeneity in commuters’ travel decisions using joint parking– and mode–choice model: A case from urban India," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    6. Phattarasuda Witchayaphong & Surachet Pravinvongvuth & Kunnawee Kanitpong & Kazushi Sano & Suksun Horpibulsuk, 2020. "Influential Factors Affecting Travelers’ Mode Choice Behavior on Mass Transit in Bangkok, Thailand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-18, November.
    7. Xiao Han & Yun Yu & Bin Jia & Zi‐You Gao & Rui Jiang & H. Michael Zhang, 2021. "Coordination Behavior in Mode Choice: Laboratory Study of Equilibrium Transformation and Selection," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(10), pages 3635-3656, October.
    8. Xu, Meng & Grant-Muller, Susan, 2016. "Trip mode and travel pattern impacts of a Tradable Credits Scheme: A case study of Beijing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 72-83.
    9. Samaranayake, D.I.J. & Dayaratna-Banda, O.G., 2019. "Underemployment and Shadow Economy; Is There a Structural Relationship? A Lab-Experimental Test," MPRA Paper 121429, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 21 Aug 2019.
    10. Janak Parmar & Gulnazbanu Saiyed & Sanjaykumar Dave, 2021. "Analysis of taste heterogeneity in commuters travel decisions using joint parking and mode choice model: A case from urban India," Papers 2109.01045, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2023.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. de Melo, Gioia & Piaggio, Matías, 2015. "The perils of peer punishment: Evidence from a common pool resource framed field experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 376-393.
    2. Matteo M. Galizzi & Daniel Navarro-Martinez, 2019. "On the External Validity of Social Preference Games: A Systematic Lab-Field Study," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(3), pages 976-1002, March.
    3. Bogliacino, Francesco & Codagnone, Cristiano, 2021. "Microfoundations, behaviour, and evolution: Evidence from experiments," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 372-385.
    4. Handberg, Øyvind Nystad & Angelsen, Arild, 2015. "Experimental tests of tropical forest conservation measures," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 346-359.
    5. Rey, David & Dixit, Vinayak V. & Ygnace, Jean-Luc & Waller, S. Travis, 2016. "An endogenous lottery-based incentive mechanism to promote off-peak usage in congested transit systems," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 46-55.
    6. Kerri Brick & Martine Visser & Justine Burns, 2012. "Risk Aversion: Experimental Evidence from South African Fishing Communities," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 94(1), pages 133-152.
    7. Feltovich, Nick & Grossman, Philip J., 2015. "How does the effect of pre-play suggestions vary with group size? Experimental evidence from a threshold public-good game," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 263-280.
    8. Masclet, David & Montmarquette, Claude & Viennot-Briot, Nathalie, 2019. "Can whistleblower programs reduce tax evasion? Experimental evidence," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Coutts, Alexander, 2022. "Identifying communication spillovers in lab-in-the-field experiments," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    10. Malte Müller & Jens Rommel & Christian Kimmich, 2018. "Farmers’ Adoption of Irrigation Technologies: Experimental Evidence from a Coordination Game with Positive Network Externalities in India," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 19(2), pages 119-139, May.
    11. Turpie, Jane & Letley, Gwyneth, 2021. "Would community conservation initiatives benefit from external financial oversight? A framed field experiment in Namibia’s communal conservancies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    12. Francesco GUALA, 2010. "Reciprocity: weak or strong? What punishment experiments do (and do not) demonstrate," Departmental Working Papers 2010-23, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    13. Sun, Xiaoyan & Han, Xiao & Bao, Jian-Zhang & Jiang, Rui & Jia, Bin & Yan, Xiaoyong & Zhang, Boyu & Wang, Wen-Xu & Gao, Zi-You, 2017. "Decision dynamics of departure times: Experiments and modeling," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 483(C), pages 74-82.
    14. Sujoy Chakravarty & Carine Sebi & E. Somanathan & Emmanuel Theophilus, 2013. "The Demographics of Cooperation: Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Gori-Ganga Basin," Journal of Economics and Management, College of Business, Feng Chia University, Taiwan, vol. 9(2), pages 231-269, July.
    15. Grüner, S. & Hirschauer, N. & Mußhoff, O., 2015. "Potenzial verschiedener experimenteller Designs für die Politikfolgenabschätzung," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 50, March.
    16. Sujoy Chakravarty & Carine Sebi & E. Somanathan & E. Theophilus, 2011. "Voluntary Contribution in the Field: An Experiment in the Indian Himalayas," Working Papers id:3490, eSocialSciences.
    17. Stefan Moser & Oliver Mußhoff, 2016. "Ex-ante Evaluation of Policy Measures: Effects of Reward and Punishment for Fertiliser Reduction in Palm Oil Production," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(1), pages 84-104, February.
    18. Rode, Julian & Gómez-Baggethun, Erik & Krause, Torsten, 2015. "Motivation crowding by economic incentives in conservation policy: A review of the empirical evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 270-282.
    19. Wendy Janssens & Berber Kramer, 2012. "The Social Dilemma of Microinsurance: A Framed Field Experiment on Free-Riding and Coordination," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 12-145/V, Tinbergen Institute, revised 23 Jan 2014.
    20. Alpizar, Francisco & Carlsson, Fredrik & Naranjo, Maria A., 2011. "The effect of ambiguous risk, and coordination on farmers' adaptation to climate change — A framed field experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 2317-2326.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:65:y:2014:i:c:p:9-22. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.