Conceptual Developments in the Economics of Transportation: An Interpretive Survey

Abstract

The objective in this paper is to survey the literature in transportation economics, exploring two basic themes; first, the conceptual developments in the analysis of supply and demand, which recognizes noteworthy aggregation biases in the empirical work on aggregate data and indicate that a correct analysis of the issues should take place at a highly disaggregated level; second, the use of these conceptual developments to evaluate efficiency aspects of transportation pricing, investment, and the impact of government regulation on resource allocation and distribution in the transportation sector. It is important to acknowledge that the survey is based on research throughout the world but our institutional perspective and, to some extent, the topics that are covered is based largely on the U.S. experience. (Author)