L’IMPACT DES REFORMES DEREGLEMENTAIRES APPLIQUEES AUX SYSTEMES FERROVIAIRES SUR L’EFFICACITE TECHNIQUE DES COMPAGNIES DE CHEMIN DE FER

In this article, we will try to study the effects of deregulatory reforms applied to rail systems on the technical efficiency of railway companies. Our empirical study is based on a two-stage DEA model. In a first step we will calculate the technical efficiency scores of 18 European and African rail transport companies over an 4-year period spanning 2014 to 2017. Two output variables were selected dealing with the demand aspect such that the passenger kilometer transported (PKT) and the tone kilometer transported (TKT) and three input variables were used reflecting the level of work, the capital stock and the size of the network operated by each enterprise.In the second step, the 72 DMU’s relating to these efficiency scores will be regressed according to the Tobit model as a function of a certain number of non-discretionary variables. We have integrated in this model four variables of interest illustrating the railway reforms and three variables of controls describing the economic and geographic environment in which each company reigns. The objective is to better explain the efficiency gap observed between companies via exogenous variables beyond the technical framework of production.The main results suggest that the countries which have carried out reform practices are more efficient than those which maintain a regulatory structure and that horizontal reforms and private management of enterprises seem more relevant than vertical separation and increased number of competitors to improve the efficiency of rail transport companies.