Small is efficient: A frontier approach to cost inefficient in Indian staff road transport undertakings

R. Jha*, S. K. Singh

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper attempts to measure cost-inefficiency of nine major Indian State Road Transport Undertakings (STU) for the period 1983-84 to 1996-97 in a manner that allows this inefficiency to vary both across time as well as across STUs. We find that given the size distribution of the STUs and relevant measures of their working conditions, the potential for reduction in cost inefficiency is very high. Further, there is evidence of wide disparity among STUs' inefficiency levels. On an average, smaller STUs appear to be more efficient than their larger counterparts. By and large, there has been stability in the cost-inefficiency ranks across STUs. The average cost curve is U-shaped, i.e., economies of scale are present up to a certain level of production and then diseconomies of scale set in. A policy that aims to change the size distribution of the STUs will help in increasing the efficiency of the Indian bus transport industry.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)95-114
Number of pages20
JournalInternational Journal of Transport Economics
Volume28
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2001

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Small is efficient: A frontier approach to cost inefficient in Indian staff road transport undertakings'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this