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The effect of vehicle ownership restrictions on travel behavior: Evidence from the Beijing license plate lottery

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  • Yang, Jun
  • Liu, Antung A.
  • Qin, Ping
  • Linn, Joshua

Abstract

To combat traffic congestion and air pollution, many cities restrict vehicle ownership, but little is known about how these policies actually affect vehicle ownership, use, or travel time. Leveraging the randomization created by Beijing's vehicle license plate lottery, we estimate the effects of the policy on travel behavior. We find that the policy reduces the total stock of cars in Beijing by 14%. It also causes large reductions in vehicle distance traveled, morning rush hour driving, and evening rush hour driving.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Jun & Liu, Antung A. & Qin, Ping & Linn, Joshua, 2020. "The effect of vehicle ownership restrictions on travel behavior: Evidence from the Beijing license plate lottery," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:99:y:2020:i:c:s0095069619300300
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2019.102269
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Shihe Fu & V. Brian Viard, 2022. "A mayors perspective on tackling air pollution," Chapters, in: Charles K.Y. Leung (ed.), Handbook of Real Estate and Macroeconomics, chapter 16, pages 413-437, Edward Elgar Publishing.
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    5. Han Su & Qian Zhang & Wanying Wang & Xiaoan Tang, 2021. "A Driving Behavior Distribution Fitting Method Based on Two-Stage Hybrid User Classification," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-24, June.
    6. Junze Zhu & Hongzhi Guan & Mingyang Hao & Zhengtao Qin & Ange Wang, 2021. "“License Plate Lottery”: Why Are People So Keen to Participate in It?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-16, December.
    7. Lijing Zhu & Jingzhou Wang & Arash Farnoosh & Xunzhang Pan, 2021. "A Game-Theory Analysis of Electric Vehicle Adoption in Beijing under License Plate Control Policy," Working Papers hal-03500766, HAL.
    8. Zhu, Lijing & Wang, Jingzhou & Farnoosh, Arash & Pan, Xunzhang, 2022. "A game-theory analysis of electric vehicle adoption in Beijing under license plate control policy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(PA).
    9. Yang, Hongtai & Zhai, Guocong & Liu, Xiaohan & Yang, Linchuan & Liu, Yugang & Yuan, Quan, 2022. "Determinants of city-level private car ownership: Effect of vehicle regulation policies and the relative price," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 40-48.
    10. Ana María Arbeláez Vélez & Andrius Plepys, 2021. "Car Sharing as a Strategy to Address GHG Emissions in the Transport System: Evaluation of Effects of Car Sharing in Amsterdam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Suchi Kapoor Malhotra & Howard White & Nina Ashley O. Dela Cruz & Ashrita Saran & John Eyers & Denny John & Ella Beveridge & Nina Blöndal, 2021. "Studies of the effectiveness of transport sector interventions in low‐ and middle‐income countries: An evidence and gap map," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), December.

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