Organization

The course is intended to be discussion oriented. Therefore, you are encouraged to actively discuss in the course. The organization of the lectures is usually based on the exposition of basic theory followed by real-world case studies analyzed in research papers. You are encouraged to discuss the relevance of conclusions, policy implications, and soundness of the economic analysis.

 

Literature

The basic literature is a textbook: J. Cowie – The economics of transport (2010). There are copies in the library and you have pdf chapters in the IS. The case studies are based on research papers that are usually optional readings. The exam is based on presentations and assigned readings.

			Compulsory	Optional
1		Transport markets	Cowie 1, 3
2		Transport demand elasticity	Cowie 4	Pauley (2006)
3		Transport demand issues	Cowie 15	Buehler (2012)
4		Transport costs	Cowie 5	Driessen (2006)
5		Competition	Cowie 6, 7
6		Competition 2		Nash (2019)
		Reading week
7		Regulation and Ownership	Cowie 10
8		Pricing	Cowie 8	Alexandersson (2006)
9		Subsidy	Cowie 11	Oats (2017)
10		Enviroment/Freight	Cowie 9, 12	Dobruszkes (2022)
11		Forecasting	Cowie 2, 13
12		Appraisal	Cowie 14	Preston (2009)

 

Lectures

Lectures are organized every Tuesday from 14.00 – 15.40 in S309. They are intended as interactive and discussion oriented. You are expected and encouraged to discuss during lectures the relevant concepts and in the presentation, there are incorporated exercises, discussion, and revision questions.

 

Evaluation of the course

	Total	Minimum
Attandance at the classes	24	16
Activity in the class	6	3
Empirical project – quality	20	10
Empirical project – defense	10	5
Written test	40	20

100

Empirical project

Aim: To analyze/solve real-world application/problem/case study in the field of transport economics/policy. It should be based on real data/situations and it should aim to enhance knowledge in the field of transport economics or to offer solutions to transport policy problems. The students are encouraged to be inspired by real cases in their countries.

Methodology: situational or geographic or economic or data or econometric analysis

Structure (recommended):

Statement of the problem:

Review of literature

The data,

The empirical results and conclusions

Possible extensions and limitations of the study

References

 

Expected Length: 6 - 8 pages     Deadline: 10 days before the exam

Defense: 15 minutes (presentation + defense of your project)

 

Exam

The exam will consist of two parts:

a)      Written part – 40 minutes – materials covered in presentations and in the textbook Cowie (2010)

b)      Oral – 15 minutes  defense of your empirical project

Final evaluation:

	Points
A	88 – 100
B	81 – 87
C	74 – 80
D	67 – 73
E	60 – 66
F	0 – 59

Presentation:

Example: Empirical Project

TEST EXAMPLE