IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/transp/v36y2009i5p617-638.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Railway reforms: do they influence operating efficiency?

Author

Listed:
  • Mette Asmild
  • Torben Holvad
  • Jens Hougaard
  • Dorte Kronborg

Abstract

This paper considers railway operations in 23 European countries during 1995-2001, where a series of reform initiatives were launched by the European Commission, and analyses whether these reform initiatives improved the operating efficiency of the railways. Efficiency is measured using Multi-directional Efficiency Analysis, which enables investigation of how railway reforms affect the inefficiencies of specific cost drivers. The main findings are that the reform initiatives generally improve operating efficiency but potentially differently for different cost drivers. Specifically, the paper provides clear empirical evidence that accounting separation is important for improving operating efficiency for both material and staff costs, whereas other reforms only influenced one of these factors.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Mette Asmild & Torben Holvad & Jens Hougaard & Dorte Kronborg, 2009. "Railway reforms: do they influence operating efficiency?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 36(5), pages 617-638, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:transp:v:36:y:2009:i:5:p:617-638
    DOI: 10.1007/s11116-009-9216-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11116-009-9216-x
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11116-009-9216-x?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 look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Bogetoft & Jens Hougaard, 1999. "Efficiency Evaluations Based on Potential (Non-Proportional) Improvements," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 233-247, November.
    2. Ivaldi, Marc & Seabright, Paul, 2003. "The Economics of Passenger Rail Transport: A Survey," IDEI Working Papers 163, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse.
    3. Gathon, H. -J. & Pestieau, P., 1995. "Decomposing efficiency into its managerial and its regulatory components: The case of European railways," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 500-507, February.
    4. L. Di Pietrantonio & J. Pelkmans, 2004. "The economics of EU railway reform," Competition and Regulation in Network Industries, Intersentia, vol. 5(3), pages 295-347, September.
    5. Gertjan Driessen & Mark Lijesen & Machiel Mulder, 2006. "The impact of competition on productive efficiency in European railways," CPB Discussion Paper 71, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    6. Pedro Cantos & José Pastor & Lorenzo Serrano, 1999. "Productivity, efficiency and technical change in the European railways: A non-parametric approach," Transportation, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 337-357, November.
    7. Cantos, Pedro & Maudos, Joaqui­n, 2001. "Regulation and efficiency: the case of European railways," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 459-472, June.
    8. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    9. Simar, Leopold & Wilson, Paul W., 2007. "Estimation and inference in two-stage, semi-parametric models of production processes," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 136(1), pages 31-64, January.
    10. Jacques Pelkmans & Loris di Pietrantonio, 2004. "The Economics of EU Railway Reform," Bruges European Economic Policy Briefings 8, European Economic Studies Department, College of Europe.
    11. Jeffry M. Netter & William L. Megginson, 2001. "From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 321-389, June.
    12. Cantos Sánchez, P., 2001. "Vertical relationships for the European railway industry," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 77-83, April.
    13. Louis Thompson, 2003. "Changing railway structure and ownership: Is anything working?," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 311-355.
    14. Torben Holvad & Jens Hougaard & Dorte Kronborg & Hans Kvist, 2004. "Measuring inefficiency in the Norwegian bus industry using multi-directional efficiency analysis," Transportation, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 349-369, August.
    15. Mette Asmild & Jens Hougaard & Dorte Kronborg & Hans Kvist, 2003. "Measuring Inefficiency Via Potential Improvements," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 59-76, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Bai, Xuejie & Jin, Zeng & Chiu, Yung-Ho, 2021. "Performance evaluation of China's railway passenger transportation sector," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    2. Fusco, Elisa, 2023. "Potential improvements approach in composite indicators construction: The Multi-directional Benefit of the Doubt model," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    3. Gertjan Driessen & Mark Lijesen & Machiel Mulder, 2006. "The impact of competition on productive efficiency in European railways," CPB Discussion Paper 71.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    4. Bai, Xue-jie & Zeng, Jin & Chiu, Yung-Ho, 2019. "Pre-evaluating efficiency gains from potential mergers and acquisitions based on the resampling DEA approach: Evidence from China's railway sector," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 46-56.
    5. Jain, Priyanka & Cullinane, Sharon & Cullinane, Kevin, 2008. "The impact of governance development models on urban rail efficiency," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1238-1250, November.
    6. Aparicio, Juan & Cordero, Jose M. & Gonzalez, Martin & Lopez-Espin, Jose J., 2018. "Using non-radial DEA to assess school efficiency in a cross-country perspective: An empirical analysis of OECD countries," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 9-20.
    7. Wetzel, Heike & Growitsch, Christian, 2006. "Economies of Scope in European Railways: An Efficiency Analysis," IWH Discussion Papers 5/2006, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    8. Asmild, Mette & Pastor, Jesús T., 2010. "Slack free MEA and RDM with comprehensive efficiency measures," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 475-483, December.
    9. Miguel Urdánoz & Catherine Vibes, 2013. "Regulation and cost efficiency in the European railways industry," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 217-230, June.
    10. Hörcher, Daniel & Tirachini, Alejandro, 2021. "A review of public transport economics," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    11. Gertjan Driessen & Mark Lijesen & Machiel Mulder, 2006. "The impact of competition on productive efficiency in European railways," CPB Discussion Paper 71, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    12. Tomeš, Zdeněk, 2017. "Do European reforms increase modal shares of railways?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 143-151.
    13. Mallikarjun, Sreekanth & Lewis, Herbert F. & Sexton, Thomas R., 2014. "Operational performance of U.S. public rail transit and implications for public policy," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 74-88.
    14. Asmild, Mette & Kronborg, Dorte & Mahbub, Tasmina & Matthews, Kent, 2019. "The efficiency patterns of Islamic banks during the global financial crisis: The case of Bangladesh," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 67-74.
    15. Álvaro Costa & Carlos Oliveira Cruz & Joaquim Miranda Sarmento & Vitor Faria Sousa, 2021. "Empirical Analysis of the Effects of Ownership Model (Public vs. Private) on the Efficiency of Urban Rail Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-14, December.
    16. Oliver Tiemann & Jonas Schreyögg, 2012. "Changes in hospital efficiency after privatization," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 310-326, December.
    17. Wang, Ke & Wei, Yi-Ming & Zhang, Xian, 2013. "Energy and emissions efficiency patterns of Chinese regions: A multi-directional efficiency analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 105-116.
    18. Ângela F. Brochado & Eugénio M. Rocha & Diogo Costa, 2024. "A Modular IoT-Based Architecture for Logistics Service Performance Assessment and Real-Time Scheduling towards a Synchromodal Transport System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-22, January.
    19. Kapelko, Magdalena & Oude Lansink, Alfons, 2017. "Dynamic multi-directional inefficiency analysis of European dairy manufacturing firms," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 257(1), pages 338-344.
    20. Finger, Matthias, 2014. "Governance of competition and performance in European railways: An analysis of five cases," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 278-288.

    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:kap:transp:v:36:y:2009:i:5:p:617-638. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.