An empirical evaluation of the effects of European public policies on island airfares

Xavier Fageda, Juan Jiménez González and Jorge Valido

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2017, vol. 106, issue C, 288-299

Abstract: In this paper we estimate a pricing equation using data, at route and airline levels, for five European countries where a significant proportion of the territory is located on islands; France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. By using two complementary empirical strategies, instrumental variables and matching procedures, we find that the imposition of Public Service Obligations does not seem to be effective in reducing prices. Furthermore, we find that prices are higher on routes where only island residents enjoy subsidies, but not on routes where subsidies do not discriminate between residents and non-residents. Finally, prices seem to be higher on routes with flat rates in contrast to routes where subsidies to residents are made through fare discounts. Overall, the results of our analysis suggest the need to change policies in order to support air services to islands and to avoid distortions in the market fares offered by airlines.

Keywords: Airline; Subsidies; Resident passenger (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H25 L13 L93 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856417300083
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:transa:v:106:y:2017:i:c:p:288-299

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
https://shop.elsevie ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2017.09.018

Access Statistics for this article

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice is currently edited by John (J.M.) Rose

More articles in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().