Next stop: restructuring? A nonparametric efficiency analysis of German public transport companies

Arbeitspapier

In this paper, we present a nonparametric comparative efficiency analysis of 179 communal public transport bus companies in Germany (1990-2004). We apply both deterministic data envelopment analysis (DEA) and bootstrapping to test the robustness of our estimates and to test the hypothesis of global and individual constant returns to scale. We find that the average technical efficiency of German bus companies is relatively low. We observe that the industry appears to be characterized by increasing returns to scale for smaller companies. These results would imply increasing pressure on bus companies to restructure.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: DIW Discussion Papers ; No. 831

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms ; Economics of Regulation ; Railroads and Other Surface Transportation ; Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
• Subject: Public transport ; buses ; efficiency analysis ; nonparametric methods ; DEA ; bootstrapping ; Omnibusverkehr ; Öffentlicher Personennahverkehr ; Technische Effizienz ; Skalenertrag ; Reorganisation ; Deutschland

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): von Hirschhausen, Christian R. ; Cullmann, Astrid
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)
• (where): Berlin
• (when): 2008

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/27354
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET