Railway reforms: Do they influence operating efficiency?

Mette Asmild, Torben Holvad, Jens Hougaard () and Dorte Kronborg
Additional contact information
Mette Asmild: Warwick Business School
Torben Holvad: European Railway Agency
Dorte Kronborg: Copenhagen Business School

No 08-05, Discussion Papers from University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper considers railway operations in 23 European countries during 1995-2001, where a series of reform initiatives were launched by the European Commission, and analyses whether these reform initiatives improved the operating efficiency of the railways. Efficiency is measured using Multi-directional Efficiency Analysis, which enables investigation of how railway reforms affect the inefficiencies of specific cost drivers. The main findings are that the reform initiatives generally improve operating efficiency but potentially differently for different cost drivers. Specifically, the paper provides clear empirical evidence that accounting separation is important for improving operating efficiency for both material and staff costs, whereas other reforms only influenced one of these factors.

Keywords: European railways; reforms; operating efficiency; Multi-directional Efficiency Analysis (MEA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 25 pages
Date: 2008-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eff
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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http://www.econ.ku.dk/english/research/publications/wp/2008/0805.pdf/ (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Railway reforms: do they influence operating efficiency? (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kud:kuiedp:0805

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