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US airport ownership, efficiency, and heterogeneity

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  • Kutlu, Levent
  • McCarthy, Patrick

Abstract

All US commercial airports are in the public sector yet not all have the same ownership type. For medium and large hub US airports we use stochastic frontier analysis to analyze the efficiency differences for alternative airport ownership types. We find that while form of ownership may matter for cost efficiency, in general its effect is relatively small. Yet type of public sector ownership does have cost efficiency implications in certain environments. Further, when heterogeneity is not controlled, the results change substantially so that type of ownership matters much more which demonstrates the importance of controlling for cross section heterogeneity.

Suggested Citation

  • Kutlu, Levent & McCarthy, Patrick, 2016. "US airport ownership, efficiency, and heterogeneity," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 117-132.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transe:v:89:y:2016:i:c:p:117-132
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tre.2016.03.003
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    4. Lim, Siew Hoon & Karanki, Fecri, 2020. "Airport use agreement types and input and output slacks: The case of U.S. airports," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Mustafa U. Karakaplan & Levent Kutlu, 2019. "Estimating market power using a composed error model," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 66(4), pages 489-510, September.
    6. Chen, Zhongfei & Barros, Carlos & Yu, Yanni, 2017. "Spatial distribution characteristic of Chinese airports: A spatial cost function approach," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 63-70.
    7. Raghavan, Sunder & Yu, Chunyan, 2021. "Evaluating financial performance of commercial service airports in the United States," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    8. Kotcharin, Suntichai & Maneenop, Sakkakom & Jaroenjitrkam, Anutchanat, 2023. "The impact of government policy responses on airline stock return during the COVID-19 crisis," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    9. Martini, Gianmaria & Scotti, Davide & Viola, Domenico & Vittadini, Giorgio, 2020. "Persistent and temporary inefficiency in airport cost function: An application to Italy," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 999-1019.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cost efficiency; Stochastic frontier; Heterogeneity; Airport governance; Airport ownership; Panel data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

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