A dynamic analysis of household car ownership

This paper examines the determinants of household car ownership, using Irish longitudinal data for the period 1995–2001. This was a period of rapid economic and social change in Ireland, with the proportion of households with one or more cars growing from 74.6% to 80.8%. Understanding the determinants of household car ownership, a key determinant of household travel behaviour more generally, is particularly important in the context of current policy developments which seek to encourage more sustainable means of travel. In this paper, we use longitudinal data to estimate dynamic models of household car ownership, controlling for unobserved heterogeneity and state dependence. We find income and previous car ownership to be the strongest determinants of differences in household car ownership, with the effect of permanent income having a stronger and more significant effect on the probability of household car ownership than current income. In addition, income elasticities differ by previous car ownership status, with income elasticities higher for those households with no car in the initial period. Other important influences include household composition (in particular, the presence of young children) and lifecycle effects, which create challenges for policymakers in seeking to change travel behaviour.     

Seamen, drink and social structure

Drinking among seafarers is an age-old and insufficiently studied problem. This paper is not concerned with alcoholism but with normal social drinking, its effects on suicide and accident rates, and its considerable value as an integrating factor in shipboard life. The author distinguishes sharply between sea-drinking and port-drinking and summarizes the research that relates personality traits, particularly dependence, to the use and abuse of alcohol.     

Open skies and open gates

Airline alliances are a global transportation issue which is the subject of increasing attention in the literature. A simple simulation model of air carrier competition in a network is constructed to examine the economic welfare effects of different levels of alliance between the carriers serving the network. The simulations confirm that consumers derive benefits from improved access to passenger markets. However, in many cases, carriers tend to gain from a limited alliance such as code-sharing. This suggests that closer alliances may be driven by other considerations such as raising barriers to entry or the cross-subsidisation of international routes through greater control of the domestic market.     

Seamen,drink and social structure

Drinking among seafarers is an age-old and insufficiently studied problem. This paper is not concerned with alcoholism but with normal social drinking, its effects on suicide and accident rates, and its considerable value as an integrating factor in shipboard life. The author distinguishes sharply between sea-drinking and port-drinking and summarizes the research that relates personality traits, particularly dependence, to the use and abuse of alcohol.     

Triple doses: a view of seamen's health

The health of seamen of all nations has long been a subject of concern. In this paper Brian Nolan stresses the specific social and economic situations of life at sea which produce their own injury, disease and death, and highlights the need for greater concern and actions by unions and employers to lessen the present high cost of seafaring to seamen.