Freight transport, policy instruments and climate

Svante Mandell, Jan-Eric Nilsson and Inge Vierth
Additional contact information
Jan-Eric Nilsson: The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI), Postal: VTI - Transport Economics, Box 55685, 102 15 Stockholm

No 14/3, Working Paper Series from Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management & Banking and Finance

Abstract: The impact of policy instruments supposed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from road freight transports may seem smaller than expected. Using insights from economics and contract theory, the paper sorts out the (possible) instances of market failure in the freight transport market; operator market power, asymmetric information split incentives, and public goods. The primary limitations of standard policy instruments are demonstrated to be linked to unobservable information. Some of these may be reduced but not eliminated as information technologies develop, making it possible to observe, verify and provide contract-relevant information to the uninformed parties. There is little reason to believe that possible market failures present major limitations to the efficiency of economic instruments geared toward protecting the climate, other than possibly in the short run.

Keywords: Freight transport; climate; greenhouse gas; policy instruments; asymmetric information; split incentives (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q53 R40 R48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 2014-04-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cta, nep-ene, nep-env, nep-reg and nep-tre
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Working Paper: Freight transport, policy instruments and climate (2014)
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