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The impact of ownership on the cost of bus service provision: an example from Italy

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  • Elisabetta Ottoz
  • Graziella Fornengo
  • Marina Di Giacomo

Abstract

This article examines the potential impact of ownership on the cost of bus service provision for a sample of 65 private and 12 public companies providing local public transit (LPT) in Piedmont (Italy) from 1998 to 2002. A translog cost frontier is estimated using the model in Battese and Coelli (1995) where inefficiency scores are allowed to vary across firms and over time. A public ownership dummy is included in the inefficiency model and it is always positive and significant. Density and scale economies and cost inefficiencies are then computed. Private companies seem to experience higher density and scale economies than public ones. Cost inefficiencies appear higher in the public sample.

Suggested Citation

  • Elisabetta Ottoz & Graziella Fornengo & Marina Di Giacomo, 2009. "The impact of ownership on the cost of bus service provision: an example from Italy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 337-349.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:41:y:2009:i:3:p:337-349
    DOI: 10.1080/00036840601007260
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    1. Willam Greene, 2005. "Fixed and Random Effects in Stochastic Frontier Models," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 7-32, January.
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    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. 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".
    3. Elisabetta Ottoz & Marina Di Giacomo, 2012. "Diversification strategies and scope economies: evidence from a sample of Italian regional bus transport providers," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(22), pages 2867-2880, August.
    4. Merkert, Rico & Mulley, Corinne & Hakim, Md Mahbubul, 2018. "Trade-offs between transaction cost, operation cost and innovation in the context of procurement and asset specificity – The example of the bus industry," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 173-179.
    5. Huang, Wencheng & Shuai, Bin & Sun, Yan & Wang, Yang & Antwi, Eric, 2018. "Using entropy-TOPSIS method to evaluate urban rail transit system operation performance: The China case," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 292-303.
    6. Di Yao & Liqun Xu & Jinpei Li, 2019. "Evaluating the Performance of Public Transit Systems: A Case Study of Eleven Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-21, June.
    7. Coluccia, Benedetta & Barbieri, Roberta & Palmi, Pamela & Natale, Francesco, 2024. "Public ownership and ESG policies: implications for firm productivity in local transportation," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Germà Bel & Jordi Rosell, 2016. "Public and Private Production in a Mixed Delivery System: Regulation, Competition and Costs," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(3), pages 533-558, June.
    9. Beria, Paolo & Grimaldi, Raffaele, 2010. "Unconventional factors of efficiency in public transport. A case study and theory," MPRA Paper 29234, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Zhang, Chunqin & Juan, Zhicai & Luo, Qingyu & Xiao, Guangnian, 2016. "Performance evaluation of public transit systems using a combined evaluation method," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 156-167.
    11. Vigren, Andreas, 2016. "Cost efficiency in Swedish public transport," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 123-132.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Francesco, Gastaldi & Lucia, Quaglino & Carlo, Stagnaro, 2012. "Il trasporto pubblico locale e la concorrenza. Cambiare paradigma per salvare il servizio: il caso ligure [Local Public Transportation and Competition. Changing Paradigm to Save the Service: The Ca," MPRA Paper 49464, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Giovanni Cesaroni & Kristiaan Kerstens & Ignace Van de Woestyne, 2017. "Estimating scale economies in non-convex production models," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 68(11), pages 1442-1451, November.
    16. Zhang, Chunqin & Xiao, Guangnian & Liu, Yong & Yu, Feng, 2018. "The relationship between organizational forms and the comprehensive effectiveness for public transport services in China?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 783-802.
    17. Hao Zhang & Xinyue Wang & Letao Chen & Yujia Luo & Sujie Peng, 2022. "Evaluation of the Operational Efficiency and Energy Efficiency of Rail Transit in China’s Megacities Using a DEA Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-16, October.
    18. Ayadi, Ahmed & Hammami, Sami, 2015. "An analysis of the performance of public bus transport in Tunisian cities," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 51-60.
    19. Pestana Barros, Carlos & Peypoch, Nicolas, 2010. "Productivity changes in Portuguese bus companies," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 295-302, September.
    20. Zhang, Chunqin & Juan, Zhicai & Xiao, Guangnian, 2015. "Do contractual practices affect technical efficiency? Evidence from public transport operators in China," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 39-55.

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