Gasoline prices,transport costs,and the U.S. business cycles

The effects of gasoline prices on the U.S. business cycles are investigated. In order to distinguish between gasoline supply and gasoline demand shocks, the price of gasoline is endogenously determined through a transportation sector that uses gasoline as an input of production. The model is estimated for the U.S. economy using five macroeconomic time series, including data on transport costs and gasoline prices. The results show that although standard shocks in the literature (e.g., technology shocks, monetary policy shocks) have significant effects on the U.S. business cycles in the long run, gasoline supply and demand shocks play an important role in the short run.     

On returns and network configuration in supply chain dynamics

This research focuses on how two common modeling assumptions in the Bullwhip Effect (BWE) literature (i.e., assuming the return of the excess of goods and assuming a serial network) may distort the results obtained. We perform a robust design of experiments where the return condition (return vs. no return) and the configuration of the Supply Chain Network (SCN) (serial vs. divergent) are systematically analyzed. We find an important interaction between these assumptions: the impact of returns on the BWE strongly depends on the SCN configuration. This study highlights the importance of accurately modeling SCNs to properly assess SCNs managers.     

Regional transport and its association with tuberculosis in the Shandong province of China, 2009–2011

Human mobility has played a major role in the spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) through transportation; however, its pattern and mechanism have remained unclear. This study used transport networks as a proxy for human mobility to generate the spatial process of TB incidence. It examined the association between TB incidence and four types of transport networks at the provincial level: provincial roads, national roads, highways, and railways. Geographical information systems and geospatial analysis were used to examine the spatial distribution of 2217 smear-positive TB cases reported between 2009 and 2011 in the Shandong province. The study involved factors such as population density and elevation difference in conjunction with the types of transport networks to predict the disease occurrence in space. It identified spatial clusters of TB incidence linked not only with transport networks of the regions but also differentiated by elevation. Our research findings provide evidence of targeting populous regions with well-connected transport networks for effective surveillance and control of TB transmission in Shandong.     

Professional travellers and tourist practices

This study analyses to what extent conventional tourism is part of the experience of professional visitors. Following the literature on mobilities, this paper assumes that leisure and work increasingly intermingle in time and space. Empirical work based on a survey of conference attendants in Barcelona confirms this stance, and invites to reframe professional life ‘in mobility’ as performed as part of a wider package of everyday activities. Public transport and mobile communication are analysed as facilitators of such convergence, highlighting how professional travel is situated in flexible spaces and flows. These findings provide insights for urban (tourism) policy, insofar as they demonstrate that planning for specialised spaces is not sufficient to reduce visitor pressure on the main tourist ‘sights’.     

Location of logistics companies: a stated preference study to disentangle the impact of accessibility

Due to the globalization and the fragmentation of industrial production processes, the logistics sector, organizing the linkages between different production plants and the market, is growing fast. This results in an increasing demand for suitable new business locations. Previous research has indicated that accessibility is a key factor in the location decision making process. Though the literature on this subject is extensive, little research has been done to quantify the impact of the different dimensions of accessibility on the location decision process of logistics companies. This paper aims to fill this void in the literature by means of a revealed preference study (using a Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis) and a stated preference study (using a designed discrete choice experiment) in Flanders (Belgium). The results of the revealed preference study served as input to the design of the choice situations in the stated preference study. In the stated preference study, the respondents were confronted with a series of choice situations described by means of accessibility variables as well as land rent information. An analysis of the resulting data by means of discrete choice modeling revealed that land rent is the most important factor in the location choice of logistics companies in Flanders. Access to a port is the second most important factor, followed by access to a motorway, the location in a business park and an inland navigation terminal, which are all about equally important. Access to a rail terminal plays no significant role in the location choice of logistics companies in Flanders.     

Trading off public values in High-Speed Rail development in China

Theory on how different public values are prioritized in transport infrastructure planning is growing increasingly sophisticated, but most of it has focused on Western countries. Its relevance to China is thus far unknown territory. In this article, we apply the theory on public values and the way various values are traded off against each other to the case of High-Speed Rail development in China. We develop a Public value tradeoff matrix enabling us to identify and measure the various public values at play and to establish what changes took place in the prioritization of various public values over time. In the history of HSR development in China, a shift from regional equity and safety through economic growth and speed to organizational efficiency and cooperation can be observed in the period before HSR took off in China until now. The trading off process takes place through different institutional paradigms and organizational mechanisms in China than in Europe and America, and occurs more at the strategic apex of the administrative hierarchy.     

Measures for evaluating supply chain performance in transport logistics

This study aims to investigate the construct of, and develop a measurement instrument for, supply chain performance (SCP) in transport logistics. Based on the supply chain operations reference model and various established measures, a measurement model and a measurement instrument for SCP in transport logistics are developed. A 26-item SCP measurement instrument was constructed, reflecting service effectiveness for shippers, operations efficiency for transport logistics service providers, and service effectiveness for consignees. The empirical findings suggest that the measurement instrument is reliable and valid for evaluating SCP in transport logistics.     

Transport Taxes with Multiple Trip Purposes

A congestible urban transport system is considered in which cars and buses are used for commuting and non‐commuting trips. Commuting is a strict complement to taxable labour supply. The optimal tax structure for raising a given amount of government revenue is examined for the cases where differentiation of transport tolls between trip purposes is and is not possible. An application to Belgian urban environments shows that optimal toll differentiation produces significant efficiency improvements. Without differentiation, reforming transport taxes generates substantial gains only when the labour tax can be reduced.     

专用铁路集装箱江海联运驳接方式研究

专用铁路集装箱江海联运具有较好的经济效益,是铁路运输的重要发展方向。为提升集装箱江海联运的效率,化解既有集装箱江海联运驳接方式的缺点,在阐述既有集装箱江海联运驳接方式及存在问题的基础上,提出专用铁路集装箱江海联运驳接方式,从设施布局、作业流程和实现效果等方面进行分析。专用铁路集装箱江海联运驳接方式可以打破海船与江船的倒装限制,提升集装箱江海联运驳接效率,降低集装箱江海联运成本。     

铁路运输生产结合部安全问题改进对策探讨

铁路运输生产结合部安全对于保障铁路的安全运营具有重要作用,建立完善铁路运输生产结合部安全问题协调机制能够有效降低安全风险。分别从铁路内部结合部问题和外部结合部问题2个方面,分析铁路运输生产过程中的结合部安全问题,探析结合部安全问题意识、结合部管理安全职责、结合部安全问题协调制度、结合部安全问题闭环整治机制以及结合部安全问题源头性手段等原因,从健全完善结合部安全问题协调机制和施策推动结合部安全问题治理2个方面提出改进对策。