Abstract

This paper investigates the effectiveness of liberalization policy on the intercity coach market in England and Wales and evaluates its impact in promoting competition and enhancing welfare. The paper adds to the current literature by assessing this policy focusing on natural monopolies, deriving a structural model of the industry and using web-scraped key market-level data in the study. Regression analysis and descriptive statistics suggest peripheral routes with a small market size are natural monopolies, where passengers pay higher prices. We estimate a structural model, currently absent from the literature, which shows that these routes are characterized by lower welfare levels. The model allows us to simulate a policy promoting competition on such routes showing that a regulator could generate net welfare gains by implementing a more competitive equilibrium on these routes. This paper confirms the dominant conclusion that unregulated coach industries detrimentally consolidate, as demonstrated in other European markets.

摘要

本文调查了英格兰和威尔士城际长途客车市场自由化政策的有效性，并评估其在促进竞争和提高福利方面的影响。该论文通过评估这项侧重于自然垄断的政策，推导出行业的结构模型，并在研究中使用网络抓取的关键市场层面数据，为当前文献增添了新的内容。回归分析和描述性统计表明，市场规模较小的外围航线是自然垄断的，乘客支付更高的价格。我们估计了一个结构模型，目前文献中没有，它表明这些路线的特点是福利水平较低。该模型允许我们模拟在此类路线上促进竞争的政策，表明监管机构可以通过在这些路线上实施更具竞争性的均衡来产生净福利收益。正如其他欧洲市场所证明的那样，本文证实了不受监管的客车行业不利整合的主要结论。