Purpose - The purpose of this study is to compare the competition and productivity of the US freight rail transportation industry for the past 41 years (1980 ∼ 2020), which consists of the two periods, before and after the abolishment of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1995....

The Staggers Rail Act of 1980 relaxed restrictions on pricing and eased abandonment procedures in the railroad industry. Although the Act made virtually no reference to labor, its impact on labor has been dramatic. The long-term contraction of industry employment accelerated quite sharply after...