T. R. Lakshmanan

Factors underlying transportation CO2 emissions in the U.S.A.: A decomposition analysis

Over the last two decades the contribution of transportation to total energy use and CO2 emissions in the USA increased in absolute and relative terms. This paper develops a decomposition scheme which helps to identify the magnitude and the relative effects of the various factors underlying these trends in the US transportation energy use and CO2 emissions between 1970 and 1991. This decomposition scheme has the advantages of simplicity, exhaustiveness, lucidity of interpretation, and intuitive appeal. Its application to US transportation data reveals that the growth in peoples propensity to travel, population, and gross domestic product (GDP) were the three most important factors driving up US transportation energy use and CO2 emissions in the 1970-1991 period. The effects of changes in modal structure were smaller, but not trivial. The actual increases of US transportation energy use and CO2 emissions were substantially less than the sum of the effects of the above four factors due to improvements in transportation energy efficiency and decreases in the transportation intensity of GDP. Increases in US transportation energy use and CO2 emissions resulted from developments in freight transportation rather than from passenger transportation in the 1970-1991 period. (A)

Regional Disparities in China

This article is an attempt to define the dimensions and spatial patterns of regional disparities in China, to interpret their origins, and to speculate about their likely evolution. If reform in China is to be guided by efficiency considerations, changes in the incentive system must be supplemented by coherent proposals related to organizations, assets, and external linkages. The systematic nature of the reform process must be recognized, and the need for broader approaches to conceptualizing system change and transition are needed.

Residential energy demand in the United States: A regional econometric analysis

Abstract A static equilibrium and a dynamic partial adjustment model of residential demand for electricity and natural gas are presented and estimated for the United States over a recent period characterized by sharply increasing energy prices. The static model is estimated using Ordinary Least Squares while the instrumental variables method is used for the dynamic partial adjustment model. The estimates of long-run elasticities suggest the residential demand for electricity and natural gas are price and income elastic. Intercept and slope dummies used in the models identify significant regional differences in demand functions.

Industrial agglomeration and transport accessibility in metropolitan Seoul

This study aims to reveal the relationship between industrial agglomeration and transport accessibility in the Seoul metropolitan area. Our study suggests that in spite of the rapid expansion of the Seoul metropolitan area, central business districts still function as centers of the industry and transportation system; the agglomeration of most industrial subsectors are occurring in central areas and only primary and manufacturing sectors’ clusters are located out of these areas; both of subway and road networks show higher level of accessibility in central Seoul and big cities. This implies a strong relationship between the industrial agglomeration and the transport accessibility, and such hypothetical relationship is tested for every industrial subsector using logit analysis. Our findings indicate that although there are industrial variations in the magnitude of impacts and the significance level, transport networks are, in general, positively associated with industrial agglomeration and this is especially true for service sectors.

RESIDENTIAL HEATING CHOICES OF FINNISH HOUSEHOLDS

This paper presents a multinomial logit model of heating system choices by Finnish households. This model expands on the traditional focus of such discrete choice models on the characteristics of choice sets and households in two respects. First, since there appear to be systematic spatial variations among both the demand and supply side factors affecting energy system choices, we introduce and empirically assess spatial explanatory variables in the model. Second, we test our hypothesis concerning the innovation diffusion effect on choices through an appropriate variable operationalizing that effect. In this study we attempt to explain the choices of heating systems and fuels made by households in Finland. We look for circumstances that constrain such choice, and for variables that explain

Benefits and Costs of Transport

Abstract. This article aims to bring together insights from a broad body of recent literature concerned with the nature, the measurement and policy implications of benefits and costs of transport. It is argued that, for various reasons, transport cannot be treated as an ‘ordinary’ economic sector, and the policy implications of a number of the sectors peculiarities are addressed. Explicit attention is given to spatial aspects and network elements, internal and external benefits and co sts, and efficiency aspects and equity considerations in policy making.

A systems model of rural development

Abstract This paper presents a systems model that views rural development as the outcome of interactions between various rural system components - pattern of asset distribution, organizations and institutions and incentive structure in the region and the external relations to the outside world. It uses the model to interpret the rural development experience in Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Indonesia and Nigeria, identifying the links between the asset-organizational-incentive-relational mix in these countries and their respective developmental styles and achievements. Finally, the models potential use for generation of coherent developmental interventions consistent with and supportive of desired developmental objective is illustrated.

Full benefits and costs of transport. Review and prospects

Since transportation is a part of every good and service produced in the economy, the transportation system in an affluent and highly industrialized economy is a very large enterprise. In the U.S., the transportation system accounts for over 4 trillion passenger miles of travel and almost 4 trillion miles of freight, generated by over 260 million people, 6 million business establishments, and 80,000 units of government. Every tenth American worker is engaged in moving people or goods, fabricating, selling, or servicing transport vehicles and infrastructure, or providing other crucial services supporting the transportation system. Indeed, transportation accounts for about 11% of the U.S. gross domestic product—a contribution roughly comparable to major functional sectors such as food (12%), health (14%), and education (7%).

Regional dimensions of factor and fuel substitution in U.S. manufacturing

Abstract This paper analyzes the regional responses to price increases in U.S. manufacturing in the form of fuel and factor substitution. A translog specification of a production process with eight inputs organized into a two stage optimization process — optimizing the mix of four fuels that constitute the energy input and then optimizing the input mix of physical capital, working capital, labor and aggregate energy — is used. Sectoral and regional variations in factor and fuel substitutions as evident from econometric estimation of the model at the level of 50 states and four census regions are discussed and interpreted.

The Broader Benefits of Transportation Infrastructure

Assessments of the economic benefits of transportation infr astructure investments are critical to good policy decisions. At present, most such assessments are based o f two types of studies: micro-scale studies in the form of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and macro-scale studies in the form of national or regional econometric analysis. While the former type takes a parti al equilibrium perspective and may therefore miss broader economic benefits, the latter type is too widely f ocused to provide much guidance concerning specific infrastructure projects or programs. Interm ediate (meso-scale) analytical frameworks, which are both specific with respect to the infrastructure im provement in question and comprehensive in terms of the range of economic impacts they represent, are nee ded. This paper contributes to the development of meso-scale analysis via the specification of a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model that can assess the broad economic impact of improvements i n transportation infrastructure networks. The model builds on recent CGE formulations that seek to capture the productivity penalty on firms and the utility penalty on households imposed by congestion (Me yers and Proost, 1997; Conrad, 1997) and others that model congestion via the device of explicit household time budgets (Parry and Bento, 2001, 2002). The centerpiece of our approach is a representation of the process through which markets for non-transport commodities and labor create derived dema n s for freight, shopping and commuting trips. Congestion, which arises due to a mismatch between h derived demand for trips and infrastructure capacity, is modeled as increased travel tim along individual network links. Increased travel time impinges on the time budgets of households and reduces the ability of transportation service firms to provide trips using given levels of inputs. These ef f cts translate into changes in productivity, labor supply, prices and income. A complete algebraic specifica tion of the model is provided, along with details of implementation and a discussion of data resources neede d for model calibration and application in policy analysis.