 The political economy of pricing car access to downtown commercial districtsBruno De Borger and Antonio Russo Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, 2017, vol. 98, issue C, 76-93 Abstract: We study the political economy of pricing access to downtown commercial districts, using curbside parking fees as the main example. A spatial equilibrium model is embedded in a political economy framework in which special interest groups (urban and suburban retailers, local residents) lobby the city government. We have the following results. If downtown and suburban stores sell a homogeneous good, the local government underprices downtown parking if suburban stores operate with low enough markups. If goods are heterogeneous and some consumers engage in multiple-stop shopping (i.e., shop both downtown and in the suburbs), suburban stores will not lobby at all; lobbying by downtown retailers leads to parking fees below the social optimum. Furthermore, local residents do not necessarily lobby for high parking fees on downtown shoppers. If a decline in urban stores leads to negative externalities (urban blight) they may join forces with downtown retailers and lobby against high parking fees on shoppers. Keywords: Parking fees; Lobbying; Retailers; Multiple-stop shopping (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:transb:v:98:y:2017:i:c:p:76-93 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1016/j.trb.2016.12.012 Access Statistics for this article Transportation Research Part B: Methodological is currently edited by Fred Mannering More articles in Transportation Research Part B: Methodological from Elsevier |
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