IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/halshs-02116066.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Beyond the “bundling vs unbundling” controversy: What is at stake for the French railway?

Author

Listed:
  • Bougna Tchofo Emmanuel

    (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - ENTPE - École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Yves Crozet

    (LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - ENTPE - École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

This paper uses qualitative and comparative analysis to reveal two important findings. First, in France, if the aim of reform announced by the Minister is to re-build the SNCF's monopoly, our fear is that, instead of stimulating French railways, this will cause a downward slide in the sector by threatening its production and costs. In this context, the key aspect of the reform required by the fourth railway package is to create a real separation between the rail operator and the infrastructure manager. Second, our comparative analysis of the performance of the French and German railway systems shows the financial indicators in the two countries to be almost identical, except that Germany has higher productivity indicators than France. This result shows that France, instead of focusing on reducing transaction costs - which only represent 2% of the total costs, should give priority to productivity gains. It is imperative to implement a programme in France that aims to revive productivity in the railway sector, for example by reducing the workforce.

Suggested Citation

  • Bougna Tchofo Emmanuel & Yves Crozet, 2014. "Beyond the “bundling vs unbundling” controversy: What is at stake for the French railway?," Post-Print halshs-02116066, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02116066
    DOI: 10.1016/j.retrec.2014.09.072
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ivaldi, M & McCullough, G J, 2001. "Density and Integration Effects on Class I U.S. Freight Railroads," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 161-182, March.
    2. Yves Crozet, 2011. "Coûts de transaction, coûts de production, capture... Comment remettre sur les rails le système ferroviaire français ?," Post-Print halshs-00733820, HAL.
    3. Mizutani, Fumitoshi & Shoji, Kenichi, 2004. "Rail operation-infrastructure separation: the case of Kobe rapid transit railway," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 251-263, July.
    4. Christian Growitsch & Heike Wetzel, 2009. "Testing for Economies of Scope in European Railways: An Efficiency Analysis," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 43(1), pages 1-24, January.
    5. Rico Merkert & Andrew S. J. Smith & Chris A. Nash, 2012. "The Measurement of Transaction Costs - Evidence from European Railways," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 46(3), pages 349-365, September.
    6. Emile Quinet & Roger Vickerman, 2004. "Principles of Transport Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2581.
    7. Yves Crozet, 2013. "Champion national ou nostalgie du monopole ?," Post-Print halshs-01094134, HAL.
    8. Keeler, Theodore E, 1974. "Railroad Costs, Returns to Scale, and Excess Capacity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 56(2), pages 201-208, May.
    9. John D. Bitzan, 2003. "Railroad Costs and Competition: The Implications of Introducing Competition to Railroad Networks," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 37(2), pages 201-225, May.
    10. Jensen, Arne & Stelling, Petra, 2007. "Economic impacts of Swedish railway deregulation: A longitudinal study," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 516-534, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Barmeyer, Christoph & Davoine, Eric, 2019. "Facilitating intercultural negotiated practices in joint ventures: The case of a French–German railway organization," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 1-11.
    2. Laurino, Antonio & Ramella, Francesco & Beria, Paolo, 2015. "The economic regulation of railway networks: A worldwide survey," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 202-212.
    3. Mu, Rui & de Jong, Martin & Ma, Yongchi & Xi, Bao, 2015. "Trading off public values in High-Speed Rail development in China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 66-77.

    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. Huang, Wencheng & Zhang, Yue & Shuai, Bin & Xu, Minhao & Xiao, Wei & Zhang, Rui & Xu, Yifei, 2019. "China railway industry reform evolution approach: Based on the Vertical Separation Model," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 546-556.
    2. Mizutani, Fumitoshi, 2020. "A comparison of vertical structural types in the railway industry: A simple mathematical explanation model," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Fumitoshi Mizutani & Shuji Uranishi, 2013. "Does vertical separation reduce cost? An empirical analysis of the rail industry in European and East Asian OECD Countries," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 31-59, January.
    4. Steffen Juranek, 2016. "Creating a National Champion: International Competition and Unbundling in Rail Transportation," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 50(1), pages 56-75, January.
    5. Fumitoshi Mizutani & Andrew Smith & Chris Nash & Shuji Uranishi, 2015. "Comparing the Costs of Vertical Separation, Integration, and Intermediate Organisational Structures in European and East Asian Railways," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 49(3), pages 496-515, July.
    6. Nash, Chris & Nilsson, Jan-Eric & Link, Heike, 2011. "Comparing three models for introduction of competition into railways – is a Big Wolf so Bad after all?," Working papers in Transport Economics 2011:19, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI).
    7. Link, Heike, 2019. "The impact of including service quality into efficiency analysis: The case of franchising regional rail passenger serves in Germany," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 284-300.
    8. Chris Nash, 2011. "Competition and Regulation in Rail Transport," Chapters, in: André de Palma & Robin Lindsey & Emile Quinet & Roger Vickerman (ed.), A Handbook of Transport Economics, chapter 33, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. 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.
    10. José A. Gómez-Ibáñez, 2016. "Open Access to Infrastructure Networks: The Experience of Railroads," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 49(2), pages 311-345, September.
    11. Waters II, William G., 2007. "Evolution of Railroad Economics," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 11-67, January.
    12. Bitzan, John D. & Karanki, Fecri, 2022. "Costs, density economies, and differential pricing in the U.S. railroad industry," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 67-77.
    13. Merkert, Rico & Nash, Chris A., 2013. "Investigating European railway managers’ perception of transaction costs at the train operation/infrastructure interface," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 14-25.
    14. Pittman Russell, 2015. "Railways Restructuring and Ukrainian Economic Reform," Man and the Economy, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 87-107, June.
    15. Chris Nash, 2013. "Rail transport," Chapters, in: Mattias Finger & Torben Holvad (ed.), Regulating Transport in Europe, chapter 3, pages 61-81, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. John Bitzan & Wesley Wilson, 2007. "Industry costs and consolidation: efficiency gains and mergers in the U.S. railroad industry," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 30(2), pages 81-105, March.
    17. Nash, Chris A. & Smith, Andrew S.J. & van de Velde, Didier & Mizutani, Fumitoshi & Uranishi, Shuji, 2014. "Structural reforms in the railways: Incentive misalignment and cost implications," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 16-23.
    18. Benjamin Pakula & Georg Götz, 2011. "Organisational Structures in Network Industries – An Application to the Railway Industry," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201109, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    19. Laurino, Antonio & Ramella, Francesco & Beria, Paolo, 2015. "The economic regulation of railway networks: A worldwide survey," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 202-212.
    20. Poinsot, Philippe, 2016. "Jules Dupuit And The Railroads: What Is The Role Of The State?," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(2), pages 189-209, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Regulation; Transaction costs; Production costs; Productivity gains;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L50 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - General
    • L92 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Railroads and Other Surface Transportation
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:hal:journl:halshs-02116066. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.