What Is the Connection Between Transportation and Economic Growth?

Transport economics refers to one of sectoral economics. A discipline that studies the economic relations and laws of economic activity in the transportation industry. Take the entire process of production and reproduction activities in the transportation industry as the research area, and various economic relations that occur in the transportation production process as the research object. The task is to study the inherent economic laws and their manifestations in the field of transportation, summarize the experiences in transportation practice and summarize them theoretically, clarify the principles and methods of transportation economic management, formulate guidelines and policies for the development of transportation for the party and the country, and promote Development of transportation business and services to improve transportation economic efficiency. The content generally includes: the status and role of the transportation industry in the national economy; the establishment and development of a comprehensive transportation system; the links and developments between various modes of transport; the links between the various links within the transportation industry and their development; 2. The law of passenger flow formation and the organization of reasonable transportation; the material and technical basis of the transportation industry and its development; the distribution of traffic volume and investment among various modes of transportation; transportation layout and construction; the management system of the transportation industry; the plan for the transportation industry , Cost, price, profit, labor wage, economic accounting; economic benefits and calculation methods of the transportation industry. Transport economics is the main subject in the field of transport economics. Railway transport economics, water transport economics, road transport economics, air transport economics, and management transport economics are its branch disciplines. Transportation economics provides theoretical guidance and methodology for various professional transportation economies. ^[1]

The development of transportation activities makes transportation problems constantly arise. Various theories and methods are trying to solve the problems generated by the transportation industry. Economics is also providing means and methods for solving transportation problems. So transport economics came into being.

Transportation economics is a discipline that studies the problems of the transportation industry using the principles and methods of economics. Simply applying a certain theory of economics to solve a single transportation problem is not enough to make transportation economics a discipline, and transportation economics to become an independent discipline must establish its own theoretical system. And use this theoretical system to carry out systematic research on transportation industry issues. As a discipline that uses economic theory to solve transportation problems, its core is to study whether economic governance can have an effect on the governance of transportation activities.

I. Historical Track of the Development of Foreign Transportation Economics

In a broad sense, the historical trajectory of the development of transportation economics can be divided into the special research phase of transportation economy and the research phase of transportation economic system. The special research phase of transportation economy is mainly the development of transportation economics with the development of transportation tools. This period has experienced the germination and start-up period of transportation economics; the research phase of the transportation economic system is not limited to the study of a certain type of transportation, but starts from the transportation industry, considering the connection with various aspects Forming a systematic and generalized theory of transportation economy, this stage has experienced a period of rapid development and prosperity of transportation economics.

(I) Special research stage of transportation economy

The emergence of transportation economy is accompanied by the emergence of railways. At the beginning, the special research stage of transportation economy was mainly the study of railways. After that, the emergence of automobile transportation led to the development of various modes of transportation. The study of transportation economics began. The budding period of transportation economics-the stage of railway transportation research. After the railway appeared as a new means of transportation in the transportation industry, it gradually dominated the transportation industry. At this time, it was the study of the transportation economy dominated by railway transportation. In this stage of development, the study of transportation economics has begun to sprout: In 1776, Adam Smith's "Research on the Nature and Causes of National Wealth", discussed the role of transportation in promoting urban and regional economic prosperity and the government The problem of expenditure on transportation facilities; in 1850, British professor Radner published "Railway Economy"; in 1887, Wellington published "Economic Theory of Railway Layout" ^[2]

Transport market equilibrium theory is the core theory of transport economics. Whether the market equilibrium theory, which is the core theory of microeconomics, can be applied to the governance of transport activities requires specific research on the composition of the transport market and the selection behavior of relevant subjects. Therefore, the study on the formation and significance of transportation demand, transportation supply, and transportation market equilibrium has become the basic research content of transportation economics.

1. Study on the law of transportation demand

The law of transportation demand cannot be simply transplanted from the economic principles, and it needs to be specifically demonstrated in combination with the characteristics of the transportation industry. Transport demand has the characteristics of derived demand, so the basis of determining transport demand law is not the law of diminishing marginal utility of consumers. At the same time, transportation demand and demand theory of the factor market are not exactly the same. First of all, transportation demand is divided into passenger demand and freight demand. According to different travel purposes, passenger demand can be divided into productive passenger demand and consumer passenger demand. The characteristics of freight demand and productive passenger demand are consistent with the objective of the decision-making subject in the factor demand theory, that is, to maximize the profit of the economic activity subject. The specific performance is to maximize the profits of the companies served by the cargo owners or passengers. However, it is assumed in the freight demand that the amount of transportation services is the same as the supply in the place of production and the demand in the place of consumption. That is to say, the flow of goods between the two places is based on trade, and there is no transport demand without trade activities. As a demand for productive passenger transport. On the one hand, the passenger's transit time is a loss of production. On the other hand, it also gives that the subject of the line brings a pleasant mood, which can obtain a certain utility. As the demand for consumer passenger transport, the relationship between the utility of the consumer upon arrival at the destination and the occupation of transit time and freight is the main influencing factor determining this transport demand. Therefore, the study of the law of transport demand requires specific analysis in combination with specific factors such as the characteristics of the transport industry and the objectives of the transport subject.

2. Study on transportation supply law

Cost is the basis for determining changes in the law of supply. The transportation industry is a network-based basic industry. The transportation industry cost is composed of three parts: infrastructure cost, mobile vehicle cost and operating cost. Its cost is different from other industries. First, the availability of infrastructure determines the different cost changes of transport service providers. Service providers who own infrastructure have higher network costs due to the higher proportion of infrastructure costs. In contrast, the network economy of transport service providers that do not own the infrastructure is weak. Secondly. Vehicles are indivisible, so their average cost curve is not completely smooth. Thirdly, the marginal cost changes within the range of the rated carrying capacity of the vehicle are not significant, and the marginal cost will increase by leaps and bounds over the loading capacity. Finally, there are a lot of common and joint costs in the transportation industry. Therefore, the characteristics of the transportation industry are used to study the changes in transportation costs. Therefore, scientifically proving the transportation supply theorem is another focus of transportation economics research.

3. Research on Transport Market Equilibrium

Based on the proof of transportation demand and transportation supply law, the transportation demand and transportation supply are placed in the transportation market at the same time. The transportation market price and transaction volume under the combined effect of the two are studied as the transportation market equilibrium research. The transportation market equilibrium mainly studies whether the transportation market can realize the equilibrium automatically and the significance of the equilibrium. The purpose is to prove theoretically that the transportation market can play a basic regulating role in transportation activities.

In summary, through the study of transport demand and transport supply laws and the proof of the equilibrium stability of the transport market, on the premise of meeting the basic assumptions, the transport market has the function of regulating transport activities to maximize the benefits of participants in transport activities, thereby Realize the reasonable allocation of resources in the transportation industry. The theory of equilibrium of the transportation market theoretically demonstrates that the governance method of transportation activities under the basic assumptions of the market, that is, the market method, is the core theory of transportation economics ^[3] .