| Popis: |
This chapter describes how, since the passage of the Staggers Act in 1980, the US rail industry has experience a long series of mergers. While these mergers have had some beneficial aspects, they have also led to problems for some shippers, especially those who are captive to a bottleneck carrier. The future of the US rail industry is at a critical juncture, and the radical steps taken by the US Surface Transportation Board (STB) to revise it merger procedure guidelines in order to demonstrate that it recognizes that special treatment of railroads is no longer justified, and that rail merger guidelines should more closely align with those from other industries. The STB recognized that the instability in the rail industry, the potential for further problems with new mergers among Class I railroads, and the ”merger fatigue” that accompanied the previous round of mergers necessitated a reexamination of its merger policies. The service and financial market problems and the competitive concerns from the last round of mergers, along with the realization that the next round of mergers would be the final round and result in a permanent structure for the industry, led the STB to revise several areas of its merger policy. These include whether the merger is in the public interest, the effects on competition, the impacts on service, and the vertical effects of the mergers - both in other markets and for the future structure of the industry - and what safeguards need to be in place in order to ensure the benefits of the merger. The US rail industry is stronger that was in the 1970s, when many railroads were either bankrupt or on the verge of becoming so. Although there are some problems remaining, the application of traditional economic analysis for mergers should be sufficient in order to ensure that only mergers with a strong rationale will be consummated. |
