An Economic Analysis of Regulated Taxicab Markets

The literature on taxicab markets has provided theoretical insights regardingthe peculiarities of taxicab markets. A key finding is the positive effect thatexcess capacity, in the form of vacant taxicabs, has on the demand for taxicabservice. Lack of data on taxicab markets has made estimating these modelsdifficult. This paper models a taxicab market in which entry and fares areregulated. It estimates the model using data from meter inspections of NewYork City taxicabs. It finds a positive, inelastic relationship between vacanttaxicabs and demand for taxicab service. The estimates of the parameters ofthe model are used to evaluate the effects of policy changes such as increasesin the regulated fare and in the number of taxicab medallions. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2003