RIEB Seminar

Workshop on Transportation Management, Kobe University (Jointly supported by: RIEB Seminar / Workshop on Transportation Policy)

Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, 4:30pm-6:00pm

Workshop on Transportation Management, Kobe University

Jointly supported by RIEB Seminar / Workshop on Transportation Policy

Date & Time Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, 4:30pm-6:00pm
Place Meeting Room at RIEB (Annex, 2nd Floor)
Intended Audience Faculties, Graduate Students and People with Equivalent Knowledge
Language Japanese
1:20pm-2:50pm
Topics
Returns to Density of Regional Railroad Companies in Japan: A Hedonic Cost Function Approach
Speaker
Tomohiro KITAMURA (Garduate School of Economics, Kobe University)
Abstruct
In this study, we estimate a variable cost system and predict the returns to density (RTD) of small and medium-sized regional passenger railroad companies in Japan. The empirical results indicate that the RTD of railroad companies that transport mainly non-commuting passengers are higher than those of railroad companies that transport mainly commuters.
Because a high RTD means a high fixed cost, companies that transport mainly non-commuters may face higher fixed costs. Therefore, removing unused tracks or rolling stock would improve companies' performance and long-term viability, especially in the case of companies that transport mainly non-commuters.
ENGLISH