Research in Transportation Business and Management最新文献

China has an independent high-speed railway (HSR) system that is different from ordinary railways. Compared to conventional rail, HSR faces more competition from transport such as aviation, since its faster speed. Designing an industrial organization structure suitable for HSR is a key issue to be solved in furthering the reform of the China railway industry. By constructing a Salop model with horizontal differentiation, we analyze the economic effects of implementing different industrial organization structures for HSR under the condition of inter-modal competition. The study found that introducing train operators or establishing regional companies may lead to foreclosure effects under the vertical integration (VI) structure. Under the vertical separation (VS) structure, introducing train operators or establishing regional companies can promote competition, but it easily leads to double marginalization problem. Regardless of the structure, whether VI or VS, introducing train operators or establishing regional companies also has lock-in effects on some HSR passengers. These effects lead to higher fares, which harm consumer surplus, but it may not necessarily improve the profits of the entire HSR industry. In general, maintaining the VI or implementing the complete VS (including simple VS and introducing train operators under VS structure) can obtain better social welfare under certain conditions, depending on the cost difference of various transport modes. According to this conclusion and the situation in China, we have proposed several directional recommendations for the future reform.

We examine the impact of the railway network's expansion on port activity during the First Globalization, utilizing new databases from French customs. In a panel regression, we show that the construction of railway stations near ports is positively correlated with the value of exports. Using product-level data, we propose that local railway lines might have supported the growth of export-oriented industries. This is in particular the case near small ports.

To analyse the multiplier effects of transport sectors, the input-output approach was used to calculate output multipliers, gross value added multipliers, employment multipliers and income multipliers for China's four transport sectors from 2012 to 2020. The results show that of all the multiplier effects in China's transport sectors, the induced effects contribute the most, all close to 40%, and even more than 60% of the employment multipliers. Air transport has the highest output multiplier; rail transport has the highest gross value added multiplier, employment multiplier and income multiplier. The multipliers for rail transport are higher than those for road transport, and the multipliers for water transport are similar to those for road transport, so the current policy of restructuring China's transport industry will not have a negative impact on its economic effect. Furthermore, a comparative multiplier analysis with two European countries is conducted to assess the Chinese transport industry from an international perspective. The results of this paper are important for assessing the economic contribution of different transport sectors and providing a reference to formulate transport policies.

In the quest to combat climate change and facilitate sustainable development, improving efficiency is a common and successful method for container terminals. Under such a circumstance, it is critical to accurately estimate the efficiency level of container terminals, so that making more reasonable decision-making. However, many present studies consider container terminal operations as a “black box”, reliance mostly on their own self-efficiency evaluations, ignoring some important external environmental factors, which can lead to inaccurate results that are hard to compare. To rectify this situation, this paper proposes a new network DEA cross-efficiency model that considers initial structure and GHG emissions of container terminal, co-opetition (competition and cooperation) and “peer-evaluation” between container terminals, which enables us to attain more accurate and comparable evaluations. Having applied this model to 25 Chinese container terminals in 2019 to analyze their three efficiencies (production operation, profit transformation, and all-in). Then, the effects of different factors on three efficiencies are analyzed by Tobit regression, and a series of efficiency improvement recommendations are proposed. Our findings revealed that while the production operation at these terminals was efficient (with average performance rate of 0.65), both profit transformation and overall efficiency were quite inefficient (averaging 0.23 and 0.35 respectively). Factors such as price for services, quality of services, technology used, and regional economic development level have significant positive effects on overall efficiency. Investment size had a significant negative effect on overall efficiency. Through our research, we have provided vital support for accurately evaluating efficiency in container terminals as well as useful guidance when designing strategies for greater efficiency improvement.

Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are growing concerns among passengers and airlines. However, the communication of such actions by airline companies is underexplored. Accordingly, this study aims to analyze airlines' CSR and Environmental Sustainability Actions (ESA) communications' impact on customer loyalty, through a Relationship Marketing (RM) perspective. Following a text-mining approach, 6181 Facebook comments were collected. A word frequency matrix was created from the collected data and used as input for PLS-SEM to test raised hypotheses. Results suggest that communication based on ESA and CSR positively affects behavioral loyalty and commitment. RM moderated ESA's communication impact on customer loyalty but not on the relationship between CSR communication and loyalty. These findings suggest that communicating environmental efforts positively affects customer loyalty, providing airline managers with valuable insights that should be considered within communication strategies to enhance return and customer retention.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world's commercial aviation industry was unprecedented. National lockdowns and border closures effectively prohibited passenger air travel. Airlines responded by reducing operations, parking aircraft and making staff, including pilots, redundant. This research aims to examine the impact of COVID-19 on commercial airline pilots' job satisfaction before and during the pandemic and identify the workplace factors that affect it. Empirical data was gathered via an online survey which was distributed to members of three commercial airline pilot unions in Europe and Australasia in November 2021. 346 complete responses were received. Using Herzberg's 16 workplace factors as a theoretical frame for the survey and subsequent analysis, the findings showed that, overall, job satisfaction decreased during the pandemic. The largest effect sizes were observed for Salary, Job Security and Working Conditions while the smallest effect sizes were observed for Impacts on Personal Life, Responsibility and Recognition. The importance of effective communication between airline management and pilots was highlighted. The findings and recommendations regarding employee compensation, benefits and support packages are of relevance not only to airlines but also to other transport and economic sectors facing future disruptive events.

This paper reviews the existing literature concerned with air passengers with specific access requirements, often referred as passengers with disabilities (PwDs) or passengers with reduced mobility (PRMs). While accessibility in air transport is an emerging field of research, the literature lacks a more in-depth understanding of the barriers that air passengers face, which can guide future research and help practitioners in improving the services to this passenger segment. To this end, we conducted a systematic review of 50 peer-reviewed articles to explore how these challenges have been addressed in existing literature. The analysis expanded upon the established primary barrier categories (architectural, transport, communication and information, attitudinal, and technological). Within these categories, novel sub-groups of barriers were identified and proposed. The analysis further revealed the most suggested solutions to overcoming those barriers: i) legal obligations and standard operational procedures; ii) improving airport facilities and services; iii) digitalization of operations and services; iv) recommendations for improving cabin safety and accessibility; and v) training for airport and airline staff. This study emphasizes the importance of gaining a thorough understanding of the challenges faced by PwDs and calls for more collaborative efforts from various stakeholders to enhance the accessibility and inclusivity of air travel.

Transportation planners and policymakers' main endeavour is to identify mechanisms to ensure that traffic congestion externalities and their adverse impacts are mitigated using various economic and market-based instruments. This paper proposes a framework integrating the concept of designing economic mechanisms for planning and promoting sustainable mobility using credit schemes on a disaggregated level of university communities. The mechanism uses a systems approach to model the components of policy, credit scheme, the choices of the populations and their impacts on society. Travel behavior data of different user groups are collected, informing the formulation of the system and the credit scheme while disincentivizing single-occupant vehicle trips and incentivizing sustainable transportation options, such as shared micro-mobility services, public transportation, and carpooling. The results of the framework's application suggest that parking pricing schemes that function as disincentives are more efficient when gradually introduced. Externalities are not minimized if parking pricing or incentives towards sustainable transportation are imposed solely. On the contrary, externalities are minimized when incentives and disincentives are integrated. Lastly, the framework could be extended to other large institutions or organizations, allowing the gradual diffusion of sustainable transportation and the unification of credit schemes.

This research aimed to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Job Satisfaction of military and airline pilots, in order to identify factors that influence the sustainability of aviation operations during global economic shocks, through the prism of industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology. The primary focus was on identifying factors linked to pilots' Job Satisfaction differentiations over the time course of the pandemic, and proposing measures to mitigate their negative effects. Survey Job Satisfaction data were collected from 203 pilots during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2021, and were subsequently measured in a quasi-identical sample of 205 pilots after the pandemic in May 2023. During the pandemic, the results indicate that airline pilots experienced an acute decrease in Job Satisfaction due to the disruptive nature of COVID-19. This decline was primarily attributed to factors such as pay cuts and reduced promotion prospects, which consequently resulted in feelings of limited job security and future uncertainty. Importantly, a substantial recovery of airline pilots JS was observed following the end of the pandemic. In contrast, military pilots' levels remained relatively constant over the duration of the pandemic, as military organizations typically received government provided financial security. To improve commercial sustainability, it is recommended that airline companies enhance their preparedness for future crises by minimizing the financial impact experienced by pilots. Additionally, effective communication strategies should be implemented to address and alleviate uncertainty among pilots. It is crucial to prevent adverse psychological conditions among pilots, as they play a critical role in maintaining flight safety.

Combined rail-road transport, with its complex regulatory, infrastructural, organizational and technical environment, presents numerous opportunities for practical improvements and impactful research. A strengthening of this transport mode can serve rising transport demands and make freight transport more ecologically sustainable. Due to the complex nature of combined transport systems, there are various possibilities for improvement, of which a subset of 27 measures have been identified in a Delphi study. Synthesized with a systematic literature review for the last decade of combined transport research, a practice-oriented research agenda was developed, providing guidance for further research. Six research topics have been identified, ranging from the assessment of sustainability policies, digital platforms, seamless cross-border traffic, human factor, changing terminal roles and technological developments in rail transport.