IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/netspa/v6y2006i2p149-162.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Distinguishing Multiproduct Economies of Scale from Economies of Density on a Fixed-Size Transport Network

Author

Listed:
  • Leonardo Basso
  • Sergio Jara-Díaz

Abstract

In order to produce a certain vector of flows over a fixed-size network, a transport firm has to choose, among many other things, a route structure. In accommodating increasing traffic, transport firms will adjust their route structure to minimize costs. However, transport industry structure analysis considers only, often implicitly, the case where the route structure is fixed. In this paper, economies of density, that represents the latter, are conceptually distinguished from economies of scale on fixed-size networks, S, where we allow the route structure to vary. Intuition with a simple example, evidence from the airline industry and the derivation of a formula to calculate S from an estimated cost function are provided. Results are both novel and encouraging. Transport firms, while closer to exhaust economies of density, would still have available sizeable economies of scale. Copyright Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2006

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:netspa:v:6:y:2006:i:2:p:149-162
    DOI: 10.1007/s11067-006-7698-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11067-006-7698-z
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11067-006-7698-z?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. Wenbin Wei & Mark Hansen, 2003. "Cost Economics of Aircraft Size," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 37(2), pages 279-296, May.
    2. 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.
    3. Ivaldi, M & McCullough, G J, 2001. "Density and Integration Effects on Class I U.S. Freight Railroads," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 161-182, March.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. Baltagi, Badi H & Griffin, James M & Rich, Daniel P, 1995. "Airline Deregulation: The Cost Pieces of the Puzzle," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 36(1), pages 245-260, February.
    10. John C. Panzar & Robert D. Willig, 1977. "Economies of Scale in Multi-Output Production," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 91(3), pages 481-493.
    11. Brueckner, Jan K & Spiller, Pablo T, 1994. "Economies of Traffic Density in the Deregulated Airline Industry," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(2), pages 379-415, October.
    12. Tae Hoon Oum & Anming Zhang & Yimin Zhang, 1995. "Airline Network Rivalry," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 28(4a), pages 836-857, November.
    13. 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.
    14. Karlaftis, Matthew G. & McCarthy, Patrick, 2002. "Cost structures of public transit systems: a panel data analysis," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 1-18, January.
    15. Swan, William M, 2002. "Airline route developments: a review of history," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 8(5), pages 349-353.
    16. Fumitoshi Mizutani, 2004. "Privately Owned Railways' Cost Function, Organization Size and Ownership," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 297-322, May.
    17. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 2.
    18. 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.
    19. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    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. Hörcher, Daniel & Tirachini, Alejandro, 2021. "A review of public transport economics," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    3. Xia, Wenyi & Jiang, Changmin & Wang, Kun & Zhang, Anming, 2019. "Air-rail revenue sharing in a multi-airport system: Effects on traffic and social welfare," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 304-319.
    4. 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.
    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. Anupriya, & Graham, Daniel J. & Carbo, Jose M. & Anderson, Richard J. & Bansal, Prateek, 2020. "Understanding the costs of urban rail transport operations," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 292-316.
    7. Kraus, Marvin, 2008. "Economies of scale in networks," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 171-177, July.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.

    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. 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.
    3. 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.
    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. Zuidberg, Joost, 2014. "Identifying airline cost economies: An econometric analysis of the factors affecting aircraft operating costs," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 86-95.
    6. Lin, Ming Hsin & Zhang, Anming, 2016. "Hub congestion pricing: Discriminatory passenger charges," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 5(C), pages 37-48.
    7. 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.
    8. Jiang, Changmin & Zhang, Anming, 2014. "Effects of high-speed rail and airline cooperation under hub airport capacity constraint," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 33-49.
    9. Jan K. Brueckner, 2004. "Network Structure and Airline Scheduling," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 291-312, June.
    10. 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.
    11. Jong-Hun Park & Anming Zhang, 2000. "An Empirical Analysis of Global Airline Alliances: Cases in North Atlantic Markets," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 16(4), pages 367-384, June.
    12. 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.
    13. Anupriya, & Graham, Daniel J. & Carbo, Jose M. & Anderson, Richard J. & Bansal, Prateek, 2020. "Understanding the costs of urban rail transport operations," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 292-316.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. Yetiskul, Emine & Matsushima, Kakuya & Kobayashi, Kiyoshi, 2005. "Airline Network Structure with Thick Market Externality," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 143-163, January.
    17. Wang, Xiyan(Jamie), 2016. "1-Hub, 2-hub or fully connected network? A theoretical analysis of the optimality of airline network structure," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 5(C), pages 12-23.
    18. 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.
    19. McMullen, B. Starr & Du, Yan, 2007. "The Economic Impact of the ATA/Southwest Airlines Code Share Alliance," 48th Annual Transportation Research Forum, Boston, Massachusetts, March 15-17, 2007 207914, Transportation Research Forum.
    20. Hugo Salgado & Manuel Romero-Hernández, 2006. "Economies of Density, Network Size and Spatial Scope in the European Airline Industry," Working Papers 2006-13, FEDEA.

    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:kap:netspa:v:6:y:2006:i:2:p:149-162. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.