The Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB) will host its third workshop on Urban Economics on the 9th and 10th June 2014. The aim of the workshop is to bring together original research in the area of urban economics. Both theoretical and empirical papers are welcome. The accepted papers will be presented in parallel sessions that will be complemented with three plenary sessions.

The role that competition plays in the provision of public transport services varies widely in Europe. Different countries have introduced mechanisms of competition both in rail and bus services, with their performance depending on a combination of institutional and market-level variables. Other countries, however, have taken a much slower path in opening their services to competition, either for or in the market. One of the critical issues seems to depend on the way in which tendering public transport services is applied in practice.

Although the transport sector cannot be considered as one of the culprits of the current economic crisis, it is obviously influenced by its consequences. The ability of the public sector to finance new infrastructure projects or to subsidise the operational deficits of public transport modes has certainly diminished. This is forcing administrations around the world to reassess their investment and pricing policies. Other current debates in transport economics focus on the possibilities of curbing atmospheric emissions, the effects of liberalising sectors that had been insulated from competition or the changes in accessibility due to urban and regional transformations, among others.

The aim of this meeting is to discuss recent research in the area of transport economics. The meeting will focus on issues related to pricing, investment and competition. However, research papers in other areas of transport economics and infrastructure analysis are also welcome both from empirical and theoretical perspectives. Between 10 and 12 papers will be accepted for presentation and discussion at the meeting, which will take place during a single day at the University of Barcelona (Av. Diagonal, 690, Barcelona).

There is an increasing concern about the funding needs of higher education institutions. Many countries have reduced public spending without an equivalent increase in students’ scholarships and loans. Moreover, governments have allowed universities to increase their tuition fees. In this context, it is very relevant to analyze higher education financing schemes as well as the effects of tuition increases on both efficiency and equity. Thus, some factors should be considered, such as the impact of tuition fees on enrolment and graduation rates as well as on universities social composition.

Original research papers that cast some light on these issues, especially those from an economic perspective, will be brought together at the Workshop. Although the focus is set on empirical papers, theoretical studies are also welcome. The accepted papers (10) will be presented in plenary sessions that will complement the two keynote speakers’ presentations.

Decentralization of the delivery of public services has been an important part of public sector reform in many countries. The arguments typically used by governments, international agencies and donors have been mostly of economic and technical nature. The political economy approach can complement this diagnosis and advice work by predicting the effect of decentralization reforms in real political and institutional settings, highlighting the practical pitfalls of particular reform designs implemented, and helping understand the motives that drive politicians to transfer responsibilities and resources to lower levels of government.

The aim of this workshop is to bring together original research papers that cast some light on this topic. Both theoretical and empirical papers are welcome. A tentative list of topics of interest is given below, although papers dealing with any aspect of fiscal federalism, decentralization or the political economy of local governments are welcome.

Year 2013 has been declared by the European Commission as the “Year of Air”. The right of citizens to breathe clean air has become a priority objective within the European environmental policy. In this context the environmental impact of transport is quite relevant.

Transport activities not only negatively affect the air quality, but there are also other important externalities to consider like noise, global warming, landscape impacts, flora and fauna effects, etc. According to the European Environment Agency, transport accounts for around a third of all final energy consumption and for more than a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions. It is also responsible for a large share of urban air pollution as well as noise nuisance. Furthermore, transport has a serious impact on the landscape because it divides natural areas into small patches with serious consequences for animals and plants.

The long term environmental objectives of the EU are stated in the 2011 White Paper «Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area». According to this policy paper a reduction of at least 60% of global warming gases by 2050 with respect to 1990 is required from the transport sector. To that end it is foreseen halving the use of ‘conventionally-fuelled’ cars in urban transport by 2030 and phase them out in cities by 2050. In addition, 50% of interurban transport should shift to other modes such as rail or waterborne transport by 2050. Meeting this goal will also require the development of appropriate infrastructure.

The discussions that will take place in this workshop will address several of the aforementioned issues. The workshop includes three presentations by prestigious academics within the area of environmental transport economics. Professor Stef Proost (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) will discuss the economics of local air pollution, energy supply and climate change with relation to road transport. He will analyze a wide set of instruments to deal with each of the three issues. Professor David Banister (University of Oxford) will examine the different policy solutions to address the impact on environment derived from the growth of CO2-intensive transport and mobility. Finally, Pilar Socorro (Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) will discuss the implications of the European Trading System devised for the airline market on market competition. The papers will be discussed by Xavier Labandeira, Emilio Padilla and Gustavo Nombela, respectively. The workshop ends up with a round table that analyses the issue of aviation and emission trading systems. In this round table there will be representatives from the airline industry, public institutions and private firms.