Freight Transport Regulation Equity, Efficiency, and Competition in the Rail and Trucking Industries

Following the recent deregulation of the airlines, a chorus of politicians and consumers has been calling for the deregulation of other industries, especially those in the troubled transportation sector. By making use of a general equilibrium model, the authors of this study have evaluated the consequences of deregulation in the rail and trucking industries and, in particular, have quantified the efficiency and distributional effects of such a change. The book uses new and powerful econometric and analytical tools in its general equilibrium analysis, with explicit attention to the tradeoffs between the efficiency and distributional aspects of deregulation policies and the relationship between freight rates and regional incomes. The analysis recognizes the interdependence among the various rail and trucking modes and thus encompasses the full general-equilibrium effects of deregulation. In addition, by differentiating between short-run and long-run equilibrium, it takes changes in railroad infrastructure into account, balancing the huge costs of infrastructure maintenance against the savings of abandoning light-density routes. The book also tests a number of general hypotheses about the structure of cost and demand in the transport industries. The authors conclude that "with a few important caveats, the finding of this study indicate that the public interest would be served by deregulation. This is particularly true in the LTL [less-than-truckload] trucking market of general commodities where competition would appear to allocate resources efficiently and equitably and cause relatively few disruptions in the existing equilibrium." Although written from the viewpoint of the economist, transport and policy analysts will also find valuable and utilizable information in this volume. This book is the first in the series Regulation of Economic Activity, edited by Richard Schmalensee.Friedlaender, Ann F. is the author of 'Freight Transport Regulation Equity, Efficiency, and Competition in the Rail and Trucking Industries' with ISBN 9780262060721 and ISBN 0262060728.