Regulation, Privatization, and Airport Charges: Panel Data Evidence from European Airports

32 Pages Posted: 1 Nov 2011

See all articles by Volodymyr Bilotkach

Volodymyr Bilotkach

Newcastle Business School

Joseph A. Clougherty

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Juergen Mueller

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Anming Zhang

University of British Columbia (UBC) - Sauder School of Business

Date Written: October 2011

Abstract

This paper examines the determinants of airport aeronautical charges by employing a unique panel dataset covering sixty-one European airports over an eighteen-year period. We are able to extend the literature on the role of airports as an essential element in transport infrastructure by offering the first analysis of the impact of different regulatory policies and privatization on airport charges in a panel data setting where fixed effects can be employed to mitigate endogeneity concerns. Our main empirical results indicate that aeronautical charges are lower at airports when single-till regulation is employed, when airports are privatized, and -- tentatively -- when ex-post price regulation is applied. Furthermore, hub airports generally set higher aeronautical charges, and it appears that price-cap regulation and the presence of nearby airports do not affect aeronautical charges.

Keywords: airport charges, airports, hubs, privatization, regulation, single-till

JEL Classification: L33, L93, R40, R48

Suggested Citation

Bilotkach, Volodymyr and Clougherty, Joseph A. and Mueller, Juergen and Zhang, Anming, Regulation, Privatization, and Airport Charges: Panel Data Evidence from European Airports (October 2011). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP8618, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1952481

Volodymyr Bilotkach (Contact Author)

Newcastle Business School ( email )

208, City Campus East-1
Newcastle upon-Tyne, NE1 8ST
United Kingdom

Joseph A. Clougherty

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ( email )

1206 S. Sixth Street
330 Wohlers Hall, MC-706
Champaign, IL 61820
United States

Juergen Mueller

affiliation not provided to SSRN

No Address Available

Anming Zhang

University of British Columbia (UBC) - Sauder School of Business ( email )

2053 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
Canada

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