Speaker:

Assistant Professor Javier Asensio, Assistant Professor at the Department of Applied Economics of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Abstract:

Spanish intercity bus services are regulated under a tendering system which has undergone different changes since 2007. Using detailed on submitted bids for tenders we assess the impact that those changes have had on observable outcomes such as number of bids, prices and frequencies. We find that price reductions of up to 22% result when the most pro-competitive tendering designs are used. We then quantify the welfare effects that such price reductions would generate, on the basis of the price-elasticity of a demand equation estimated for different types of bus trips . The net consumer welfare gains that would result from more competitive tendering amount to 14% of the market’s size measured by revenue.

Speaker Bio:

Javier Asensio is assistant professor at the Department of Applied Economics of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He got his Ph.D. in Economics in 1999 and has carried out research in transport economics areas such as commuters’ modal choices, redistributive impacts of transport subsidies and taxation, effectiveness of speed control policies on car consumption or value of travel time variability. He is currently working on projects assessing the accessibility of the Spanish transport infrastructure and the regulatory mechanisms of intercity coach services in Spain. The main purpose of his visit to London is to gather details on firms’ entry dynamics after the coach liberalisation of 1980. His scholar Google page is: https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=VA-f5e4AAAAJ