In this paper, we investigate the economic effects of deregulation in Japan’s intercity coach industry. Specifically, we examine the intensity of competition in the industry using a unique dataset, to evaluate the economic effects of two major deregulations in 2002 and 2013. The absence of organized data means there is no previous research that quantitatively evaluates the deregulations. We collect data capturing the entry of bus operating companies by web-scraping and use a structural estimation method developed in econometrics for the purpose of measuring the degree of competition. Our empirical analysis yields the following three main results. First, we find that the markup ratios always exceed 1, which indicates that the entry of one additional firm always intensifies competition. Specifically, the markup gained by one firm under duopoly is estimated to be about three quarters of that under monopoly. Second, the competitive effect of an additional entry decreases as the number of incumbents increases. This result is obtained irrespective of the mode of competition. Third, we find that the services offered by firms in the industry are significantly differentiated. Counterfactual analysis reveals that additional 0.76 firms can enter a market on average by differentiating their products from each other. These results provide useful insights into the development of competition policy pertaining to the contemporary transportation industry.

在本文中，我们研究了放松管制对日本城市间客车业的经济影响。具体来说，我们使用一个独特的数据集检查了行业竞争的激烈程度，以评估2002年和2013年两次重大放松管制的经济影响。缺少有组织的数据意味着以前没有定量评估放松管制的研究。我们通过网络抓取收集捕获公交运营公司进入的数据，并使用计量经济学中开发的结构估计方法来衡量竞争程度。我们的经验分析得出以下三个主要结果。首先，我们发现加价比率始终超过1，这表明另外一家公司的进入总是加剧竞争。特别，一家公司在双寡头垄断下获得的加价幅度估计约为垄断下的四分之三。第二，随着任职人数的增加，额外进入的竞争效应会降低。无论竞争方式如何，都可获得此结果。第三，我们发现该行业的公司所提供的服务明显不同。反事实分析表明，平均而言，通过将自己的产品区分开来，又有0.76家公司可以进入市场。这些结果为有关当代运输业竞争政策的发展提供了有用的见识。无论竞争方式如何，都可获得此结果。第三，我们发现该行业的公司所提供的服务明显不同。反事实分析表明，平均而言，有0.76家公司可以通过区分彼此的产品进入市场。这些结果为有关当代运输业竞争政策的发展提供了有用的见解。无论竞争方式如何，都可获得此结果。第三，我们发现该行业的公司所提供的服务明显不同。反事实分析表明，平均而言，有0.76家公司可以通过区分彼此的产品进入市场。这些结果为有关当代运输业竞争政策的发展提供了有用的见识。