Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/170582 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
ZEW Discussion Papers No. 17-041
Publisher: 
Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW), Mannheim
Abstract: 
We study patterns of entry and exit in the German interurban bus industry in the first three years after its deregulation in January 2013. Using a comprehensive data set of all firm and route entries and exits, we find that the industry grew much quicker than originally expected - with particularly a few new entrants being most successful in quickly extending their route networks from regional to national coverage. Although the clear majority of routes is operated on a monopoly basis, competition does play a key role on routes with a sufficiently large base of (potential) customers. From a spatial perspective, three years after deregulation, the entire interurban bus network connects 60 percent of all 644 larger German cities - with the intensity of entry being dependent on the number of inhabitants, average income, the share of under 24 years old and the presence of intermodal competition by intercity railway services.
Subjects: 
deregulation
interurban bus services
entry
exit
competition
JEL: 
L11
L41
L43
L92
K21
K23
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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