Railways as patient capital
نویسندگان
چکیده
Abstract Why are railways mostly in the public sector? Interest rates define a time limit for markets. Projects with longer break-evens cannot be funded by business alone. Corporate ‘franchise’ arrangements overcome means of revenue guarantees which transfer risks to government. Innovations originate bottom-up private enterprise. Positive externalities create demand universal provision but scaling up financed commercially. In British railway manias 1830s, 1840s, and 1860s speculative fever overwhelmed prudence. Overinvestment left an excessive infrastructure legacy wiped out windfall profits. other countries required external support. Expanding access gave rise stand-offs investors ended government regulation or takeover. The tramway boom 1870–1914 followed this pattern, initially horse power then electricity. UK privatization 1990s, free market delusion was confounded requirement long-term commitment.
منابع مشابه
On Generalized Random Railways
We consider a random generalized railway defined as a random 3-regular multigraph where some vertices are regarded as switches not allowing traffic between any pair of attached edges. It is shown that the probability that the generalized railway is functioning is linear in the proportion of switches. Thus there is no threshold phenomenon for this property.
متن کاملSafety Functions in Railways
There are several ways to describe and structure safety rules for railways, and a few examples are given in the report. A tentative holistic framework for describing safety features in relation to safety rules is presented. The approach has been applied on rules needed to regulate the communication between different railway organisations and other parties.
متن کاملRoads, railways, and childhood cancers.
STUDY OBJECTIVES To locate geographical sources of engine exhaust emissions in Great Britain and to link them with the birth addresses of children dying from cancer. To estimate the cancer initiating roles of nearby roads and railways and to measure effective ranges. DESIGN Birth and death addresses of all children born between 1955 and 1980 in Great Britain, and dying from leukaemia or other...
متن کاملHigh-speed Railways in Germany
When the railway appeared as a new means of transportation in the first half of the 19th century, its top speed of 30 to 40 km/h was considered dangerous. In Germany, where Adler transported two barrels of beer between Nuremberg and Fürth in 1835 as the first German rail freight, physicians warned people against such perilous adventures and farmers were worried that their cows grazing alongside...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
ژورنال
عنوان ژورنال: Oxford Review of Economic Policy
سال: 2022
ISSN: ['0266-903X', '1460-2121']
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/grac004