Diversification strategies and scope economies: evidence from a sample of Italian regional bus transport providers |
| |
| Authors: | Elisabetta Ottoz Marina Di Giacomo |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Dipartimento di Economia Cognetti , University of Turin , Via Po 53, Torino 10124, Italy elisabetta.ottoz@unito.it;3. Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche G. Prato , University of Turin , Torino 10124, Italy |
| |
| Abstract: | A growing number of Local Public Transport (LPT) companies diversify their production lines by providing a large set of services. We investigate the cost structure of a sample of LPT companies operating in Italy and assess the presence and the magnitude of scope economies. We split the whole sample of firms according to their diversification strategy: private firms, mainly diversifying in competitive transport related services and public firms providing nontransport services in regulated markets. Scope economies appear sizeable for both groups but higher for firms pursuing a transport related strategy, suggesting caution in the multiutility development pursued by public LPT firms in Italy. |
| |
| Keywords: | cost function scope economies transport companies diversification |
|
|
