IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/applec/v37y2005i12p1399-1410.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cost structure and technological change of local public transport: the Kaohsiung City Bus case

Author

Listed:
  • Judy Shaw-Er
  • Wang Chiang
  • Ya-Wen Chen

Abstract

This study has developed a translog cost function for the Kaohsiung City Bus (KCB) to analyse its cost structure and economic characteristics, based on monthly data over the time period from January 1996 to December 2000. The empirical results reveal that economies of density in the provision of bus services in Kaohsiung do prevail. The estimated marginal cost, which is less than the average cost but greater than the current bus fare, indicates that the subsidy is necessary. Due to the existence of returns to density (RTD), the KCB could obtain cost-saving benefits by extending its output scale. The KCB production technology is also not neutral. The effects of technological change on the KCB costs suggest that over the period 1996-2000 technological progress did lead to cost saving; the pure productivity growth rate increased from 0.45% in 1998 to 3% in 2000.

Suggested Citation

  • Judy Shaw-Er & Wang Chiang & Ya-Wen Chen, 2005. "Cost structure and technological change of local public transport: the Kaohsiung City Bus case," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(12), pages 1399-1410.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:37:y:2005:i:12:p:1399-1410
    DOI: 10.1080/00036840500118465
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00036840500118465
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00036840500118465?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 Madden & Harry Bloch & Grant Coble-Neal, 2002. "Labour and capital saving technical change in telecommunications," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(14), pages 1821-1828.
    2. Giovanni Fraquelli & Massimiliano Piacenza & Graziano Abrate, 2001. "Costs and Technology of Public Transit Systems in Italy:Some Insights to Face Inefficiency," CERIS Working Paper 200112, CNR-IRCrES Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth - Torino (TO) ITALY - former Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth - Moncalieri (TO) ITALY.
    3. Appelbaum, Elie & Berechman, Joseph, 1991. "Demand conditions, regulation, and the measurement of productivity," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2-3), pages 379-400, February.
    4. Berechman, Joseph & Giuliano, Genevieve, 1984. "Analysis of the cost structure of an urban bus transit property," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 18(4-5), pages 273-287.
    5. Dalen, Dag Morten & Gomez-Lobo, Andres, 1997. "Estimating cost functions in regulated industries characterized by asymmetric information," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(3-5), pages 935-942, April.
    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Germà Bel, 2013. "Local government size and efficiency in capital-intensive services: what evidence is there of economies of scale, density and scope?," Chapters, in: Santiago Lago-Peñas & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez (ed.), The Challenge of Local Government Size, chapter 6, pages 148-170, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. de Grange, Louis & Troncoso, Rodrigo & Briones, Ignacio, 2018. "Cost, production and efficiency in local bus industry: An empirical analysis for the bus system of Santiago," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 1-11.
    5. Philippe Gagnepain & Marc Ivaldi & Catherine Muller-Vibes, 2011. "The Industrial Organization of Competition in Local Bus Services," Chapters, in: André de Palma & Robin Lindsey & Emile Quinet & Roger Vickerman (ed.), A Handbook of Transport Economics, chapter 32, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Avenali, Alessandro & Boitani, Andrea & Catalano, Giuseppe & D’Alfonso, Tiziana & Matteucci, Giorgio, 2018. "Assessing standard costs in local public bus transport: A hybrid cost model," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 48-57.
    7. Daniel Albalate & Germà Bel & Joan Calzada, 2010. "Urban transport governance reform in Barcelona," IREA Working Papers 201009, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Jun 2010.
    8. Terence tai-leung Chong & Angela Fung & Wing-ting Lee & Ka-lai Man, 2009. "Hedonic pricing models for metropolitan bus services," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(2), pages 630-637.
    9. Ripplinger, David G. & Bitzan, John D., 2018. "The cost structure of transit in small urban and rural U.S. communities," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 176-189.
    10. Hassold, Stephan & Ceder, Avishai (Avi), 2014. "Public transport vehicle scheduling featuring multiple vehicle types," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 129-143.
    11. Filippini, M. & Koller, M. & Masiero, G., 2015. "Competitive tendering versus performance-based negotiation in Swiss public transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 158-168.
    12. Cubukcu, K. Mert, 2008. "Examining the cost structure of urban bus transit industry: does urban geography help?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 278-291.
    13. Mehdi Farsi & Aurelio Fetz & Massimo Filippini, 2007. "Economies of Scale and Scope in Local Public Transportation," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 41(3), pages 345-361, September.

    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. Ripplinger, David G. & Bitzan, John D., 2018. "The cost structure of transit in small urban and rural U.S. communities," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 176-189.
    2. Bogetoft, Peter & Nielsen, Kurt, 2003. "Yardstick Based Procurement Design In Natural Resource Management," 2003 Annual Meeting, August 16-22, 2003, Durban, South Africa 25910, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Krouse, Clement G & Cabolis, Christos & Danger, Kenneth L & Carter, Tanja D & Riddle, Jon M & Ryan, Daniel J, 1999. "The Bell System Divestiture/Deregulation and the Efficiency of the Operating Companies," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(1), pages 61-87, April.
    4. de Rus, Gines, 2001. "Competencia en transporte público y plazos concesionales en España [Competition in public transport and concession contracts]," MPRA Paper 12651, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Ginés Rus & M. Socorro, 2010. "Infrastructure Investment and Incentives with Supranational Funding," Transition Studies Review, Springer;Central Eastern European University Network (CEEUN), vol. 17(3), pages 551-567, September.
    6. Ginés De Rus, 1991. "Análisis del mercado de servicios de transporte público en España: costes, demanda, precios y nivel de calidad," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 15(2), pages 229-247, May.
    7. Beniamina Margari & Fabrizio Erbetta & Carmelo Petraglia & Massimiliano Piacenza, 2007. "Regulatory and environmental effects on public transit efficiency: a mixed DEA-SFA approach," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 131-151, October.
    8. Bourjade, Sylvain & Muller-Vibes, Catherine, 2023. "Optimal leasing and airlines' cost efficiency: A stochastic frontier analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    9. Amaral, Miguel, 2008. "Public vs private management of public utilities - The case of urban public transport in Europe," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 85-90, January.
    10. Rod Tyers, 2015. "Service Oligopolies and Australia's Economy-Wide Performance," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 48(4), pages 333-356, December.
    11. Krouse, Clement G & Park, Jongsur, 2003. "Competition in the Interexchange Telecommunication Market," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 46(1), pages 85-101, April.
    12. 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.
    13. Pierre-Andre Chiappori & Bernard Salanie, 2000. "Testing for Asymmetric Information in Insurance Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(1), pages 56-78, February.
    14. AGRELL, Per & BOGETOFT, Peter, 2013. "Benchmarking and regulation," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2013008, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    15. Jos Blank, 2013. "Maximizing public value for subsidized non-profit firms: a mathematical economic model," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 173-183, October.
    16. repec:taf:applec:v:42:y:2010:i:30:p:3849-3869. is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Reiss, Peter C. & Wolak, Frank A., 2003. "Structural Econometric Modeling: Rationales and Examples from Industrial Organization," Research Papers 1831, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    18. Juan Luis Gómez‐Reino & Santiago Lago‐Peñas & Jorge Martinez‐Vazquez, 2023. "Evidence on economies of scale in local public service provision: A meta‐analysis," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(4), pages 793-819, September.
    19. Lavergne, Pascal & Thomas, A., 1997. "Semiparametric estimation and testing in models of adverse selection, with an aplication to environmental regulation," DES - Working Papers. Statistics and Econometrics. WS 6221, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Estadística.
    20. Kaushik Deb & Massimo Filippini, 2013. "Public Bus Transport Demand Elasticities in India," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 47(3), pages 419-436, September.
    21. Peter Bogetoft & Kurt Nielsen, 2002. "DEA Based Yardstick Competition in Natural Resource Management," CIE Discussion Papers 2002-04, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Centre for Industrial Economics.

    More about this item

    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:taf:applec:v:37:y:2005:i:12:p:1399-1410. 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 Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEC20 .

    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.