Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aecrev/v93y2003i4p1194-1215.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Network Effects, Congestion Externalities, and Air Traffic Delays: Or Why Not All Delays Are Evil

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher Mayer
  • Todd Sinai
Abstract
We examine two factors that explain air traffic congestion: network benefits due to hubbing and congestion externalities. While both factors impact congestion, we find that the hubbing effect dominates empirically. Hub carriers incur most of the additional travel time from hubbing, primarily because they cluster their flights in short time spans to provide passengers as many potential connections as possible with a minimum of waiting time. Non-hub flights at the same hub airports operate with minimal additional travel time. These results suggest that an optimal congestion tax might have a relatively small impact on flight patterns at hub airports. (JEL L2, L5, L9, D6)

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Mayer & Todd Sinai, 2003. "Network Effects, Congestion Externalities, and Air Traffic Delays: Or Why Not All Delays Are Evil," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(4), pages 1194-1215, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:93:y:2003:i:4:p:1194-1215
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/000282803769206269
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/000282803769206269
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicholas Economides, 1997. "The Economics of Networks," Brazilian Electronic Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, vol. 1(0), December.
    2. Encaoua, David & Moreaux, Michel & Perrot, Anne, 1996. "Compatibility and competition in airlines demand side network effects," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 701-726, October.
    3. Jan K. Brueckner & Yimin Zhang, 2001. "A Model of Scheduling in Airline Networks: How a Hub-and-Spoke System Affects Flight Frequency, Fares and Welfare," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 35(2), pages 195-222, May.
    4. Ken Hendricks & Michele Piccione & Guofu Tan, 1995. "The Economics of Hubs: The Case of Monopoly," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(1), pages 83-99.
    5. Borenstein, Severin & Netz, Janet, 1999. "Why do all the flights leave at 8 am?: Competition and departure-time differentiation in airline markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 611-640, July.
    6. Jan K. Brueckner, 2002. "Airport Congestion When Carriers Have Market Power," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1357-1375, December.
    7. Steven A. Morrison & Clifford Winston, 1989. "Enhancing the Performance of the Deregulated Air Transportation System," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 20(1989 Micr), pages 61-123.
    8. Arnott, Richard J., 1979. "Unpriced transport congestion," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 294-316, October.
    9. Kim, E Han & Singal, Vijay, 1993. "Mergers and Market Power: Evidence from the Airline Industry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(3), pages 549-569, June.
    10. Borenstein, Severin & Rose, Nancy L, 1994. "Competition and Price Dispersion in the U.S. Airline Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(4), pages 653-683, August.
    11. Garth Saloner & Andrea Shepard, 1995. "Adoption of Technologies with Network Effects: An Empirical Examination of the Adoption of Teller Machines," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 26(3), pages 479-501, Autumn.
    12. Daniel, Joseph I, 1995. "Congestion Pricing and Capacity of Large Hub Airports: A Bottleneck Model with Stochastic Queues," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 63(2), pages 327-370, March.
    13. Carlin, Alan & Park, Rolla Edward, 1970. "Marginal Cost Pricing of Airport Runway Capacity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(3), pages 310-319, June.
    14. Singal, Vijay, 1996. "Airline Mergers and Competition: An Integration of Stock and Product Price Effects," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(2), pages 233-268, April.
    15. Douglas W. Caves & Laurits R. Christensen & Michael W. Tretheway, 1984. "Economies of Density versus Economies of Scale: Why Trunk and Local Service Airline Costs Differ," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(4), pages 471-489, Winter.
    16. Vickrey, William S, 1969. "Congestion Theory and Transport Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(2), pages 251-260, May.
    17. Brueckner, Jan K & Spiller, Pablo T, 1994. "Economies of Traffic Density in the Deregulated Airline Industry," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(2), pages 379-415, October.
    18. Severin Borenstein, 1989. "Hubs and High Fares: Dominance and Market Power in the U.S. Airline Industry," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 20(3), pages 344-365, Autumn.
    19. Daniel, Joseph I. & Pahwa, Munish, 2000. "Comparison of Three Empirical Models of Airport Congestion Pricing," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 1-38, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Christopher Mayer & Todd Sinai, "undated". "Network Effects, Congestion Externalities, and Air Traffic Delays: Or Why All Delays Are Not Evil," Zell/Lurie Center Working Papers 393, Wharton School Samuel Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center, University of Pennsylvania.
    2. Zhang, Anming & Czerny, Achim I., 2012. "Airports and airlines economics and policy: An interpretive review of recent research," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 15-34.
    3. Lin, Ming Hsin & Zhang, Anming, 2016. "Hub congestion pricing: Discriminatory passenger charges," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 5(C), pages 37-48.
    4. Anming Zhang & Yimin Zhang & Joseph A. Clougherty, 2011. "Competition and Regulation in Air Transport," Chapters, in: André de Palma & Robin Lindsey & Emile Quinet & Roger Vickerman (ed.), A Handbook of Transport Economics, chapter 35, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Jiang, Changmin & Zhang, Anming, 2015. "Airport congestion pricing and terminal investment: Effects of terminal congestion, passenger types, and concessionsAuthor-Name: Wan, Yulai," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 91-113.
    6. Fu, Xiaowen & Jin, Huan & Liu, Shaoxuan & Oum, Tae H. & Yan, Jia, 2019. "Exploring network effects of point-to-point networks: An investigation of the spatial patterns of Southwest Airlines’ network," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 36-45.
    7. Brueckner, Jan K., 2005. "Internalization of airport congestion: A network analysis," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 23(7-8), pages 599-614, September.
    8. Joseph I. Daniel, 2011. "Congestion pricing of Canadian airports," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 44(1), pages 290-324, February.
    9. Rupp, Nicholas G., 2009. "Do carriers internalize congestion costs? Empirical evidence on the internalization question," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 24-37, January.
    10. Jia Yan & Xiaowen Fu & Tae Oum, 2008. "Exploring Network Effects of Point-to-Point Networks: An Investigation of the Spatial Entry Patterns of Southwest Airlines," Working Papers 2008-21, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
    11. Clougherty, Joseph A., 2002. "US domestic airline mergers: the neglected international determinants," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 557-576, April.
    12. Daniel, Joseph I. & Harback, Katherine Thomas, 2009. "Pricing the major US hub airports," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 33-56, July.
    13. Jan K. Brueckner, 2002. "Airport Congestion When Carriers Have Market Power," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1357-1375, December.
    14. Claudio Agostini, 2005. "El Mercado de Transporte Aéreo: Lecciones para Chile de una Revisión de la Literatura," ILADES-UAH Working Papers inv163, Universidad Alberto Hurtado/School of Economics and Business.
    15. Ciliberto, Federico & Schenone, Carola, 2012. "Bankruptcy and product-market competition: Evidence from the airline industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 564-577.
    16. Nombela, Gustavo & de Rus, Gines & Betancor, Ofelia, 2004. "Internalizing airport congestion," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 323-331, December.
    17. Vikrant Vaze & Cynthia Barnhart, 2012. "Modeling Airline Frequency Competition for Airport Congestion Mitigation," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(4), pages 512-535, November.
    18. Yahua Zhang & David Round, 2009. "Policy Implications of the Effects of Concentration and Multimarket Contact in China’s Airline Market," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 34(4), pages 307-326, June.
    19. Daniel, Joseph I. & Pahwa, Munish, 2000. "Comparison of Three Empirical Models of Airport Congestion Pricing," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 1-38, January.
    20. Kai Hüschelrath & Kathrin Müller, 2014. "Airline Networks, Mergers, and Consumer Welfare," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 48(3), pages 385-407, September.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • L5 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy
    • L9 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities
    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:93:y:2003:i:4:p:1194-1215. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.