IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jknowl/v9y2018i4d10.1007_s13132-016-0422-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Density and Scale Economies in the Public Road Transport: Empirical Evidence for Tunisia

Author

Listed:
  • Mohamed Amine Mezghani

    (University of Management and Economic Sciences of Sfax)

  • Younes Boujelbene

    (University of Management and Economic Sciences of Sfax)

Abstract

This paper examines economies of scale and density in road transport. This study seeks to broaden the knowledge in the impact of the economies of scale and density drawn in and by the road transport sector in Tunisia. This investigation aims to not only grasp the possibility of a substitutability of the production factors used but also highlight the importance of the global productivity achieved in the operation of means of transport for the users and the community. The investigation of the 12 road transport companies in Tunisia reveals the existence of a homogeneity in the total production of these companies which vary with the size of the networks, the number of stops, and the number of employees, although it exists a strong heterogeneity concerning. This study shows the importance of enhancing a number of policies recommendations for the Tunisian road transport system through the joint improvement of the road infrastructure policy, of the fuel price policy, and of the fuel-efficient road vehicle policy in order to maintain sustainable road transport network.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohamed Amine Mezghani & Younes Boujelbene, 2018. "Density and Scale Economies in the Public Road Transport: Empirical Evidence for Tunisia," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(4), pages 1309-1320, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:9:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s13132-016-0422-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s13132-016-0422-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13132-016-0422-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13132-016-0422-4?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. Hurlin, Christophe, 2006. "Network effects of the productivity of infrastructure in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3808, The World Bank.
    2. Heshmati, Almas & Haouas, Ilham, 2011. "Economies of Scale in the Tunisian Industries," IZA Discussion Papers 5737, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. De Borger, Bruno L, 1984. "Cost and Productivity in Regional Bus Transportation: The Belgian Case," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 37-54, September.
    4. 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.
    5. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    6. Viton, Philip A, 1981. "A Translog Cost Function for Urban Bus Transit," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 287-304, March.
    7. von Hirschhausen, Christian & Cullmann, Astrid, 2010. "A nonparametric efficiency analysis of German public transport companies," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 436-445, May.
    8. Massimiliano Piacenza, 2006. "Regulatory Contracts and Cost Efficiency: Stochastic Frontier Evidence from the Italian Local Public Transport," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 257-277, June.
    9. Christophe Hurlin, 2006. "Networks Effects in the Productivity of Infrastructures in Developing Countries," Post-Print halshs-00257370, HAL.
    10. Ahmed Ayadi & Sami Hammami, 2015. "Efficiency of public transport system in Tunisia: DEA-SFA approach," International Journal of Economics and Business Research, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(3), pages 316-336.
    11. Wang, Zhaohua & Lu, Milin, 2014. "An empirical study of direct rebound effect for road freight transport in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 274-281.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Cinzia Daraio & Marco Diana & Flavia Di Costa & Claudio Leporelli & Giorgio Matteucci & Alberto Nastasi, 2014. "Efficiency and effectiveness in the urban public transport sector: a critical review with directions for future research," DIAG Technical Reports 2014-14, Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Universita' degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza".
    2. Yves Croissant & William Roy & Joan Canton, 2013. "Reducing urban public transport costs by tendering lots: a panel data estimation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(26), pages 3711-3722, September.
    3. 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.
    4. Giovanni Fraquelli & Massimiliano Piacenza & Graziano Abrate, 2004. "Regulating Public Transit Networks: How do Urban‐Intercity Diversification and Speed‐up Measures Affect Firms’ Cost Performance?," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(2), pages 193-225, June.
    5. Andrea Boitani & Marcella Nicolini & Carlo Scarpa, 2013. "Do competition and ownership matter? Evidence from local public transport in Europe," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(11), pages 1419-1434, April.
    6. Campos-Alba, Cristina M. & Prior, Diego & Pérez-López, Gemma & Zafra-Gómez, Jose L., 2020. "Long-term cost efficiency of alternative management forms for urban public transport from the public sector perspective," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 16-23.
    7. Avenali, Alessandro & Boitani, Andrea & Catalano, Giuseppe & D’Alfonso, Tiziana & Matteucci, Giorgio, 2016. "Assessing standard costs in local public bus transport: Evidence from Italy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 164-174.
    8. Carlo Cambini & Massimiliano Piacenza & Davide Vannoni, 2007. "Restructuring Public Transit Systems: Evidence on Cost Properties from Medium and Large-Sized Companies," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 31(3), pages 183-203, November.
    9. Maria Nieswand & Matthias Walter, 2010. "Cost Efficiency and Subsidization in German Local Public Bus Transit," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1071, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    10. Alessandro Avenali & Andrea Boitani & Giuseppe Catalano & Tiziana D'Alfonso & Giorgio Matteucci, 2014. "Un modello per la determinazione del costo standard nei servizi di trasporto pubblico locale su autobus in Italia?," ECONOMIA E POLITICA INDUSTRIALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(4), pages 181-213.
    11. Rinki Sarkar, 1998. "Economic Characteristics Of The Urban Bus Transit Industry- A Comparative Analysis Of Three Regulated Metropolitan Bus Corporations In India," Working papers 54, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    12. Daraio, Cinzia & Diana, Marco & Di Costa, Flavia & Leporelli, Claudio & Matteucci, Giorgio & Nastasi, Alberto, 2016. "Efficiency and effectiveness in the urban public transport sector: A critical review with directions for future research," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 248(1), pages 1-20.
    13. Alireza Ermagun & David Levinson, 2015. "Access and Transit System Performance," Working Papers 000129, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    14. 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.
    15. Rosell, Jordi, 2017. "Urban bus contractual regimes in small- and medium-sized municipalities: Competitive tendering or negotiation?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 54-62.
    16. Veeneman, Wijnand & Wilschut, Janneke & Urlings, Thijs & Blank, Jos & van de Velde, Didier, 2014. "Efficient frontier analysis of Dutch public transport tendering: A first analysis," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 101-108.
    17. Andreas Andrikopoulos & John Loizides, 1998. "Cost structure and productivity growth in European railway systems," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(12), pages 1625-1639.
    18. Iseki, Hiroyuki, 2008. "Economies of scale in bus transit service in the USA: How does cost efficiency vary by agency size and level of contracting?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(8), pages 1086-1097, October.
    19. Ioannis N. Kessides, 2012. "Regionalising Infrastructure for Deepening Market Integration: The Case of East Africa," Journal of Infrastructure Development, India Development Foundation, vol. 4(2), pages 115-138, December.
    20. 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.

    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:spr:jknowl:v:9:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s13132-016-0422-4. 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.