IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/ifwkwp/2251.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Striking evidence: The impact of railway strikes on competition from intercity bus services in Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Beestermöller, Matthias Gerhard
  • Jessen-Thiesen, Levke
  • Sandkamp, Alexander-Nikolai

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of the largest rail strikes in German history on intercity buses - a then newly liberalised market. Using unique booking data of bus services, we exploit variation in rail service cancellations across routes to show that the disruption in rail transport increases bus ticket sales. Crucially, the effect persists beyond the strike, indicating that travellers do not return to their originally preferred mode of transport. It is particularly pronounced for passengers travelling on weekends. The findings suggest that customers were previously under-experimenting. Beyond transportation, our results highlight the importance of service reliability, as temporary disruptions can cause customers to permanently switch to competitors.

Suggested Citation

  • Beestermöller, Matthias Gerhard & Jessen-Thiesen, Levke & Sandkamp, Alexander-Nikolai, 2023. "Striking evidence: The impact of railway strikes on competition from intercity bus services in Germany," Kiel Working Papers 2251, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:2251
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/273076/1/1850832005.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jérôme Adda, 2016. "Economic Activity and the Spread of Viral Diseases: Evidence from High Frequency Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(2), pages 891-941.
    2. Shaun Larcom & Ferdinand Rauch & Tim Willems, 2017. "The Benefits of Forced Experimentation: Striking Evidence from the London Underground Network," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(4), pages 2019-2055.
    3. Adler, Martin W. & van Ommeren, Jos N., 2016. "Does public transit reduce car travel externalities? Quasi-natural experiments' evidence from transit strikes," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 106-119.
    4. Treb Allen & Costas Arkolakis, 2022. "The Welfare Effects of Transportation Infrastructure Improvements [General Equilibrium Effects in Space: Theory and Measurement]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(6), pages 2911-2957.
    5. Friebel Guido & Niffka Marko, 2009. "The Functioning of Inter-modal Competition in the Transportation Market: Evidence from the Entry of Low-cost Airlines in Germany," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 8(2), pages 1-23, June.
    6. Stefan Bauernschuster & Timo Hener & Helmut Rainer, 2017. "When Labor Disputes Bring Cities to a Standstill: The Impact of Public Transit Strikes on Traffic, Accidents, Air Pollution, and Health," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 1-37, February.
    7. Herbert A. Simon, 1955. "A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 69(1), pages 99-118.
    8. repec:boc:pcon20:13 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Martin W Adler & Federica Liberini & Antonio Russo & Jos N. van Ommeren, 2021. "The congestion relief benefit of public transit: evidence from Rome," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(3), pages 397-431.
    10. Klemperer, Paul D, 1987. "Entry Deterrence in Markets with Consumer Switching Costs," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 97(388a), pages 99-117, Supplemen.
    11. Michael H. Riordan, 1986. "Monopolistic Competition with Experience Goods," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(2), pages 265-279.
    12. Weitzman, Martin L, 1979. "Optimal Search for the Best Alternative," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(3), pages 641-654, May.
    13. Michael L. Anderson, 2014. "Subways, Strikes, and Slowdowns: The Impacts of Public Transit on Traffic Congestion," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(9), pages 2763-2796, September.
    14. Donna, Javier D., 2018. "Measuring Long-Run Price Elasticities in Urban Travel Demand," MPRA Paper 90260, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Dürr, Niklas S. & Heim, Sven & Hüschelrath, Kai, 2015. "Deregulation, competition, and consolidation: The case of the German interurban bus industry," ZEW Discussion Papers 15-061, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    16. Sergio Correia & Paulo Guimarães & Tom Zylkin, 2020. "Fast Poisson estimation with high-dimensional fixed effects," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 20(1), pages 95-115, March.
    17. Stefan Bauernschuster & Timo Hener & Helmut Rainer, 2017. "When Labor Disputes Bring Cities to a Standstill: The Impact of Public Transit Strikes on Traffic, Accidents, Air Pollution, and Health," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 1-37, February.
    18. Paul Klemperer, 1987. "Markets with Consumer Switching Costs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 102(2), pages 375-394.
    19. Yihsu Chen & Alexander Whalley, 2012. "Green Infrastructure: The Effects of Urban Rail Transit on Air Quality," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 58-97, February.
    20. Paul Klemperer, 1987. "The Competitiveness of Markets with Switching Costs," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 18(1), pages 138-150, Spring.
    21. Yang, Yuanxuan & Beecham, Roger & Heppenstall, Alison & Turner, Andy & Comber, Alexis, 2022. "Understanding the impacts of public transit disruptions on bikeshare schemes and cycling behaviours using spatiotemporal and graph-based analysis: A case study of four London Tube strikes," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    22. Paul Klemperer, 1995. "Competition when Consumers have Switching Costs: An Overview with Applications to Industrial Organization, Macroeconomics, and International Trade," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(4), pages 515-539.
    23. Philippe Gagnepain & Marc Ivaldi & Catherine Muller-Vibes, 2011. "The Industrial Organization of Competition in Local Bus Services," Chapters, in: André de Palma & Robin Lindsey & Emile Quinet & Roger Vickerman (ed.), A Handbook of Transport Economics, chapter 32, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    24. Yeung, Timothy Yu-Cheong & Zhu, Dianzhuo, 2022. "Intercity ridesharing to the rescue: Capacity flexibility and price stability of BlaBlaCar during the 2018 French railway strike," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 270-290.
    25. Niklas S. Dürr & Sven Heim & Kai Hüschelrath, 2016. "Deregulation, Competition, and Consolidation: The Case of the German Interurban Bus Industry," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 50(2), pages 164-16-188.
    26. Javier D. Donna, 2021. "Measuring long‐run gasoline price elasticities in urban travel demand," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 52(4), pages 945-994, December.
    27. James McDonald & Harry Bloch, 1999. "The Spillover Effects of Industrial Action on Firm Profitability," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 15(2), pages 183-200, September.
    28. Helen Weeds, 2016. "TV Wars: Exclusive Content and Platform Competition in Pay TV," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(594), pages 1600-1633, August.
    29. Carl Shapiro, 1983. "Optimal Pricing of Experience Goods," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(2), pages 497-507, Autumn.
    30. Zephirin, M G, 1994. "Switching Costs in the Deposit Market," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(423), pages 455-461, March.
    31. van Exel, N. Job A. & Rietveld, Piet, 2001. "Public transport strikes and traveller behaviour," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 237-246, October.
    32. Bataille, Marc & Steinmetz, Alexander, 2013. "Intermodal competition on some routes in transportation networks: The case of inter urban buses and railways," DICE Discussion Papers 84, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    33. Dirk Bergemann & Juuso Välimäki, 2006. "Dynamic Pricing of New Experience Goods," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(4), pages 713-743, August.
    34. J. Miguel Villas‐Boas, 2006. "Dynamic Competition with Experience Goods," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 37-66, March.
    35. Monica Giulietti & Catherine Waddams Price & Michael Waterson, 2005. "Consumer Choice and Competition Policy: a Study of UK Energy Markets," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(506), pages 949-968, October.
    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. Beestermöller, Matthias, 2017. "Striking Evidence? Demand Persistence for Inter-City Buses from German Railway Strikes," Discussion Papers in Economics 31768, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    2. Stefan Bauernschuster & Timo Hener & Helmut Rainer, 2017. "When Labor Disputes Bring Cities to a Standstill: The Impact of Public Transit Strikes on Traffic, Accidents, Air Pollution, and Health," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 1-37, February.
    3. Davis, Lucas W., 2021. "Estimating the price elasticity of demand for subways: Evidence from Mexico," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    4. Ali, Yousaf & Bilal, Muhammad & Sabir, Muhammad, 2021. "Impacts of transport strike on Pakistan economy: An inoperability Input-Output model (IIOM) approach," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    5. Giaccherini, Matilde & Kopinska, Joanna & Palma, Alessandro, 2021. "When particulate matter strikes cities: Social disparities and health costs of air pollution," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Lalive, Rafael & Luechinger, Simon & Schmutzler, Armin, 2018. "Does expanding regional train service reduce air pollution?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 744-764.
    7. Stephen Littlechild, 2019. "Promoting competition and protecting customers? Regulation of the GB retail energy market 2008–2016," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 107-139, April.
    8. Mark J. Tremblay, 2019. "Platform Competition and Endogenous Switching Costs," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 537-559, December.
    9. Donna, Javier D., 2018. "Measuring Long-Run Price Elasticities in Urban Travel Demand," MPRA Paper 90059, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Brent, Daniel & Beland, Louis-Philippe, 2020. "Traffic congestion, transportation policies, and the performance of first responders," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    11. Meina Zheng & Xiucheng Guo & Feng Liu & Jiayan Shen, 2021. "Contribution of Subway Expansions to Air Quality Improvement and the Corresponding Health Implications in Nanjing, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-19, January.
    12. Ciotti, Fabrizio & Hornuf, Lars & Stenzhorn, Eliza, 2021. "Lock-In Effects in Online Labor Markets," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2021014, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    13. Niklas Gohl & Philipp Schrauth, 2022. "Ticket to Paradise? The Effect of a Public Transport Subsidy on Air Quality," CEPA Discussion Papers 50, Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
    14. Beaudoin, Justin & Lin Lawell, C.-Y. Cynthia, 2018. "The effects of public transit supply on the demand for automobile travel," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 447-467.
    15. Toker Doganoglu, 2010. "Switching costs, experience goods and dynamic price competition," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 167-205, June.
    16. Léa Bou Sleiman, 2021. "Are car-free centers detrimental to the periphery? Evidence from the pedestrianization of the Parisian riverbank," Working Papers 2021-03, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    17. Szech, Nora & Weinschenk, Philipp, 2013. "Rebates in a Bertrand game," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 124-133.
    18. Barnes, Stephen R. & Beland, Louis-Philippe & Huh, Jason & Kim, Dongwoo, 2020. "The Effect of COVID-19 Lockdown on Mobility and Traffic Accidents: Evidence from Louisiana," GLO Discussion Paper Series 616, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    19. Adel Ben Youssef & Gueorgui Ianakiev, 2009. "Intégration du marché européen de la Défense et politiques d’offsets : une analyse en termes de coûts de changement et d’externalités technologiques," Post-Print hal-01082243, HAL.
    20. Theresa Thompson Chaudhry, 2011. "Contracting and Efficiency in the Surgical Goods Cluster of Sialkot, Pakistan," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 12(1), pages 91-115, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Experimentation; inter-modal substitution; learning; optimisation; strike; switching costs; transport;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • L92 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Railroads and Other Surface Transportation
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:zbw:ifwkwp:2251. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iwkiede.html .

    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.