CORE COURSES
Transport and Regional Economics
Background
Transport infrastructure, including ports, has been invariably
seen by governments and local authorities as a growth-pole for regional and national
development. Notable examples of this have been the Maritime Industrial Development Areas, or MIDAs, of Rotterdam and Antwerp. Many
countries have thus channeled substantial public
resources to the development of their infrastructure. At the same time, commercial
pressures; government retrenchment from economic activity; and the availability of
substantial amounts of private capital, in search of attractive investment opportunities,
have changed the parameters of transport project financing. These developments have also
led to a more commercially oriented approach to the management and pricing of
infrastructure and to the design of transport policies that are demand-driven and
user-oriented. Contributing factors to these changes are globalisation, the advent of
global supply chains, and an increasingly stronger voice for sustainable transport systems, able
to contain transport externalities such as congestion and environmental pollution.
As a result, transport planning, operations and pricing require the use of accurate and scientific
models for the objective evaluation of costs, benefits and other impacts of transport
infrastructure development. Given the conflicting economic, social and political interests
at play, this is not always easy. For example, the European Union stresses the importance
of a level playing field in intra-European transport; national governments design policies focussing on national issues; and individual operators seek policies that optimise their
own business results. This intricate web of interconnected interests provides the setting
for policy-makers who now have to function with more flexibility, knowledge, innovation
and open-mindedness in a rapidly changing socio-economic environment.
Objectives
The course aims at enabling students understand, discuss and elaborate on
the key aspects of Transport and Regional Economics in a global supply chain
context. At the end of the course, students should be able to carry out
economic modelling of transportation problems; appraise transport management and
related practices; and critically evaluate transport policies. In essence,
students will be able to take decisions with reference to transport policy and
transport company management and identify, understand and contextualize the
economic concepts underlying such decisions.
Recommended Reading
D.A.Hensher and A.M.Brewer (2001). Transport. An economic and management
perspective, Oxford University Press.
Doganis, R (2002). Flying Off Course – The Economics of International
Airlines, 3rd Ed. Routledge: London, [etc.] [Ch, 6, 7 and 10, pp 151-207 and pp
264-299]
Keeler, T E (1997). “Competition, Natural Monopoly and scale economies”, in
Tae Hoon Oum et al. (Eds.) (1997). Transport Economics – Selected Readings.
Harwood Academic Publishers and Korean Research Foundation for the 21st Century;
pp 123-143.
Rothengatter, W (2000). “External Effects of transport”, in Polak, J B and A
Heertje (Eds.) (2000). Analytical Transport Economics: An international
Perspective. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, U.K. and Northampton, Mass, pp 79-116.
A set of academic publications on the subject.
