IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ortrsc/v40y2006i3p259-268.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are Returns to Scale with Variable Network Size Adequate for Transport Industry Structure Analysis?

Author

Listed:
  • Leonardo J. Basso

    (Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 228-3, Santiago, Chile)

  • Sergio R. Jara-Díaz

    (Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 228-3, Santiago, Chile)

Abstract

It is customary to analyze transport industry structure using two indices: (1) economies of density and (2) economies of scale with variable network size . The latter has been defined to analyze the behavior of costs when output and network size expand simultaneously. After reviewing in detail what is intended with the calculation of RTS under this definition, we show analytically that, when the spatial aspects underlying transport production are taken into account, the seemingly reasonable conditions imposed on the aggregate output descriptions and the network variable conceal implicit output expansions that are not uniquely defined: they happen to depend on the specification of variables and on the evaluation point. Furthermore, most of the multiple output expansions analyzed correspond to cases that are hardly instructive. We conclude that this index is inherently ambiguous, hardly contributes to an adequate analysis of transport industry structure, and should be replaced by the calculation of economies of spatial scope ( Journal of Economic Literature L91, L11, D40).

Suggested Citation

  • Leonardo J. Basso & Sergio R. Jara-Díaz, 2006. "Are Returns to Scale with Variable Network Size Adequate for Transport Industry Structure Analysis?," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(3), pages 259-268, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ortrsc:v:40:y:2006:i:3:p:259-268
    DOI: 10.1287/trsc.1060.0154
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/trsc.1060.0154
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/trsc.1060.0154?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ken Hendricks & Michele Piccione & Guofu Tan, 1995. "The Economics of Hubs: The Case of Monopoly," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(1), pages 83-99.
    2. Leonardo Basso & Sergio Jara-Díaz, 2006. "Distinguishing Multiproduct Economies of Scale from Economies of Density on a Fixed-Size Transport Network," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 149-162, June.
    3. Jara-Díaz, Sergio R. & Donoso, Pedro P. & Araneda, J., 1991. "Best partial flow aggregation in transportation cost functions," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 329-339, October.
    4. Winston, Clifford, 1985. "Conceptual Development in the Economics of Transportation: An Interpretive Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 23(1), pages 57-94, March.
    5. Severin Borenstein, 1992. "The Evolution of U.S. Airline Competition," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 45-73, Spring.
    6. Massimo Filippini & Paola Prioni, 2003. "The influence of ownership on the cost of bus service provision in Switzerland - an empirical illustration," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(6), pages 683-690.
    7. Leonardo J. Basso & Sergio R. Jara-Díaz, 2005. "Calculation of Economies of Spatial Scope from Transport Cost Functions with Aggregate Output with an Application to the Airline Industry," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 39(1), pages 25-52, January.
    8. Hurdle, Gloria J, et al, 1989. "Concentration, Potential Entry, and Performance in the Airline Industry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 119-139, December.
    9. Fumitoshi Mizutani, 2004. "Privately Owned Railways' Cost Function, Organization Size and Ownership," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 297-322, May.
    10. Jara-Díaz, Sergio R. & Basso, Leonardo J., 2003. "Transport cost functions, network expansion and economies of scope," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 271-288, July.
    11. Zinan Liu & E. L. Lynk, 1999. "Evidence on market structure of the deregulated US airline industry," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(9), pages 1083-1092.
    12. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 2.
    13. Richard H. Spady & Ann F. Friedlaender, 1978. "Hedonic Cost Functions for the Regulated Trucking Industry," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(1), pages 159-179, Spring.
    14. Douglas W. Caves & Laurits R. Christensen & Michael W. Tretheway, 1984. "Economies of Density versus Economies of Scale: Why Trunk and Local Service Airline Costs Differ," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(4), pages 471-489, Winter.
    15. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    16. Panzar, John C., 1989. "Technological determinants of firm and industry structure," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 1, pages 3-59, Elsevier.
    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. Fielbaum, Andrés & Jara-Diaz, Sergio & Gschwender, Antonio, 2020. "Beyond the Mohring effect: Scale economies induced by transit lines structures design," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    2. Batarce, Marco & Galilea, Patricia, 2018. "Cost and fare estimation for the bus transit system of Santiago," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 92-101.
    3. Leonardo Basso & Sergio Jara-Díaz, 2006. "Distinguishing Multiproduct Economies of Scale from Economies of Density on a Fixed-Size Transport Network," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 149-162, June.
    4. Fielbaum, Andrés & Tirachini, Alejandro & Alonso-Mora, Javier, 2023. "Economies and diseconomies of scale in on-demand ridepooling systems," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    5. Alumur, Sibel A. & Campbell, James F. & Contreras, Ivan & Kara, Bahar Y. & Marianov, Vladimir & O’Kelly, Morton E., 2021. "Perspectives on modeling hub location problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 291(1), pages 1-17.
    6. Mihir Dash, 2020. "Firm-Level Determinants of Cost Structure of the Indian Sugar Industry," Journal of Applied Management and Investments, Department of Business Administration and Corporate Security, International Humanitarian University, vol. 9(2), pages 55-62, June.
    7. Johnston, Ahren & Ozment, John, 2013. "Economies of scale in the US airline industry," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 95-108.
    8. Christian von Hirschhausen & Astrid Cullmann, 2008. "Next Stop: Restructuring?: A Nonparametric Efficiency Analysis of German Public Transport Companies," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 831, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    9. Jara-Díaz, Sergio R. & Cortés, Cristián E. & Morales, Gabriela A., 2013. "Explaining changes and trends in the airline industry: Economies of density, multiproduct scale, and spatial scope," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 13-26.

    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. Leonardo J. Basso & Sergio R. Jara-Díaz & William G. Waters, 2011. "Cost Functions for Transport Firms," Chapters, in: André de Palma & Robin Lindsey & Emile Quinet & Roger Vickerman (ed.), A Handbook of Transport Economics, chapter 12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Leonardo Basso & Sergio Jara-Díaz, 2006. "Distinguishing Multiproduct Economies of Scale from Economies of Density on a Fixed-Size Transport Network," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 149-162, June.
    3. Jara-Díaz, Sergio R. & Cortés, Cristián E. & Morales, Gabriela A., 2013. "Explaining changes and trends in the airline industry: Economies of density, multiproduct scale, and spatial scope," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 13-26.
    4. Johnston, Ahren & Ozment, John, 2013. "Economies of scale in the US airline industry," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 95-108.
    5. Severin Borenstein & Nancy L. Rose, 2007. "How Airline Markets Work...Or Do They? Regulatory Reform in the Airline Industry," NBER Working Papers 13452, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Severin Borenstein & Nancy L. Rose, 2014. "How Airline Markets Work…or Do They? Regulatory Reform in the Airline Industry," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Regulation and Its Reform: What Have We Learned?, pages 63-135, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Barla, Philippe, 2000. "Firm size inequality and market power," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 693-722, July.
    8. Cockburn, Iain M. & Henderson, Rebecca M., 2001. "Scale and scope in drug development: unpacking the advantages of size in pharmaceutical research," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 1033-1057, November.
    9. Hugo Salgado & Manuel Romero-Hernández, 2006. "Economies of Density, Network Size and Spatial Scope in the European Airline Industry," Working Papers 2006-13, FEDEA.
    10. Haucap, Justus & Lange, Mirjam R. J. & Wey, Christian, 2012. "Nemo Omnibus Placet: Exzessive Regulierung und staatliche Willkür," DICE Ordnungspolitische Perspektiven 27, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    11. Emanuela Todeva & Ruslan Rakhmatullin, 2016. "Industry Global Value Chains, Connectivity and Regional Smart Specialisation in Europe. An Overview of Theoretical Approaches and Mapping Methodologies," JRC Research Reports JRC102801, Joint Research Centre.
    12. Anming Zhang & Yimin Zhang & Joseph A. Clougherty, 2011. "Competition and Regulation in Air Transport," Chapters, in: André de Palma & Robin Lindsey & Emile Quinet & Roger Vickerman (ed.), A Handbook of Transport Economics, chapter 35, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Batarce, Marco, 2016. "Estimation of urban bus transit marginal cost without cost data," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 241-262.
    14. Lars-Hendrik Röller & Johan Stennek & Frank Verboven, 2006. "Efficiency Gains from Mergers," Chapters, in: Fabienne IIzkovitz & Roderick Meiklejohn (ed.), European Merger Control, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Jan De Loecker & Pinelopi K. Goldberg & Amit K. Khandelwal & Nina Pavcnik, 2016. "Prices, Markups, and Trade Reform," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 84, pages 445-510, March.
    16. Michael Katz, 2002. "Recent Antitrust Enforcement Actions by the U.S. Department of Justice: A Selective Survey of Economic Issues," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 21(4), pages 373-397, December.
    17. Lucinda, Claudio Ribeiro & Anuatti, Francisco, 2017. "Economies of Scale and Scope in the Sanitation Sector," Brazilian Review of Econometrics, Sociedade Brasileira de Econometria - SBE, vol. 37(2), November.
    18. Stephen P. King, 1997. "National Competition Policy," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 73(222), pages 270-284, September.
    19. Genakos, C. & Grey, F. & Ritz, R., 2020. "Generalized linear competition: From pass-through to policy," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2078, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    20. Xavier Fageda, 2006. "Measuring Conduct and Cost Parameters in the Spanish Airline Market," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 28(4), pages 379-399, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    transportation economics; returns to scale; transport production; multioutput cost functions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L91 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Transportation: General
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:inm:ortrsc:v:40:y:2006:i:3:p:259-268. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    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.