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The Regulatory Determinants of Railroad Safety

Author

Listed:
  • Jerry Ellig

    (Mercatus Center at George Mason University)

  • Patrick A. McLaughlin

    (Mercatus Center at George Mason University)

Abstract

The dramatic improvement in railroad safety since the 1970s has been accompanied by a substantial increase in safety regulation and a substantial reduction in economic regulation after 1980. We assess the effects of both regulatory changes on railroad safety with the use of RegData: a new data set that was developed by one of the authors that measures the amount of regulation that is imposed by specific regulatory agencies on specific industries. We find that partial economic deregulation is associated with improved safety. Safety regulation was most closely associated with improved railroad safety during the period when economic regulation curtailed railroads’ incentives to operate safely.

Suggested Citation

  • Jerry Ellig & Patrick A. McLaughlin, 2016. "The Regulatory Determinants of Railroad Safety," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 49(2), pages 371-398, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revind:v:49:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s11151-016-9525-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11151-016-9525-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Trey Malone & Dustin Chambers, 2017. "Quantifying Federal Regulatory Burdens in the Beer Value Chain," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 466-471, June.
    2. Patrick A. McLaughlin & Oliver Sherouse, 2019. "RegData 2.2: a panel dataset on US federal regulations," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 43-55, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Railroad; Railroad safety; Regulation; Safety regulation; Staggers Act; RegData;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • K23 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Regulated Industries and Administrative Law
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L92 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Railroads and Other Surface Transportation
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

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