Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/77571 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 110
Publisher: 
University of Zurich, Department of Economics, Zurich
Abstract: 
Many governments subsidize regional rail service as an alternative to road traffic. This paper assesses whether increases in service frequency reduce road traffic externalities. We exploit differences in service frequency growth by procurement mode following a railway reform in Germany to address endogeneity of service growth. Increases in service frequency reduce the number of severe road traffic accidents, carbon monoxide, nitrogen monoxide, nitrogen dioxide pollution and infant mortality. Placebo regressions with sulfur dioxide and ozone yield no effect. Service frequency growth between 1994 and 2004 improves environmental quality by an amount that is worth approximately 28-40 % of total subsidies. An analysis of household behavior shows that the effects of railway services on outcome variables are driven by substitution from road to rail.
Subjects: 
railways
pollution
procurement
accidents
JEL: 
Q53
R41
R48
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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