Generalized transport costs and index numbers: A geographical analysis of economic and infrastructure fundamentals

José Zofío, Ana Condeço-Melhorado (), Andrés Maroto-Sánchez and Javier Gutiérrez

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2014, vol. 67, issue C, 141-157

Abstract: We rely on the economic theory approach to index numbers to improve the existing definitions and decompositions of variations in generalized transport costs (GTCs). As a value index, we decompose GTCs into price and quantity indices associated to economic—market—costs and infrastructure variables—distance and time within a network. The methodology allows the accurate identification of the sources of GTCs decline. We illustrate it for the case of road freight transportation in Spain between 1980 and 2007 and at a highly detailed geographical level. Average GTCs weighted by trade flows have decreased by 16.3%, with infrastructure driving that reduction. We find large territorial disparities in GTCs, but also significant geographical clusters where the market and network indices show spatial association.

Keywords: Generalized transport costs; Index number theory; Infrastructure; Territorial cohesion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2014.06.009

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