Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/273076 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
Kiel Working Paper No. 2251
Publisher: 
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), Kiel
Abstract: 
This paper investigates the impact of the largest rail strikes in German history on intercity buses - a then newly liberalised market. Using unique booking data of bus services, we exploit variation in rail service cancellations across routes to show that the disruption in rail transport increases bus ticket sales. Crucially, the effect persists beyond the strike, indicating that travellers do not return to their originally preferred mode of transport. It is particularly pronounced for passengers travelling on weekends. The findings suggest that customers were previously under-experimenting. Beyond transportation, our results highlight the importance of service reliability, as temporary disruptions can cause customers to permanently switch to competitors.
Subjects: 
Experimentation
inter-modal substitution
learning
optimisation
strike
switching costs
transport
JEL: 
C81
D83
L92
R41
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.