The Staggers Act, 30 Years Later

4 Pages Posted: 22 Jan 2011 Last revised: 19 Feb 2013

Date Written: January 20, 2011

Abstract

Thirty years ago, our paper entitled "The High Cost of Regulating U.S. Railroads" appeared in this journal. At the time, the Staggers Act had just been signed into law. Our paper provided an analysis of the U.S. railroad industry’s performance for the generation immediately preceding the legislation. We also took the opportunity to speculate about the "deregulated" railroad industry appearing on the U.S. horizon. More recently, we were part of the project team that conducted a study of competition in the U.S. freight railroad industry over the period 1987-2008. Using information gleaned from that research, in this article we revisit our earlier paper and review our analysis and predictions.

Keywords: Staggers Act, regulatory law, deregulation, U.S. railroads, U.S. transportation, federal regulation, analysis

JEL Classification: L90, L91, L92, L98

Suggested Citation

Caves, Douglas W. and Christensen, Laurtis R. and Swanson, Joseph Arthur, The Staggers Act, 30 Years Later (January 20, 2011). Regulation, Vol. 33, No. 4, 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1744295

Douglas W. Caves

Christensen Associates ( email )

4610 University Ave.
Suite 700
Madison, WI 53705-2164
United States

Laurtis R. Christensen (Contact Author)

Christensen Associates ( email )

4610 University Ave.
Suite 700
Madison, WI 53705-2164
United States

Joseph Arthur Swanson

Jos. Swanson & Co.

Chicago, IL
United States

Northwestern University - Zell Center in Risk Research ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_A_Swanson

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