Dr. Sanjay K. Singh is Professor in the Business Environment Area at the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Development Studies from Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research Mumbai. Dr. Singh started his academic career as Member of Faculty
The aim of this study is twofold. First, it aims to put forward new information concerning the te... more The aim of this study is twofold. First, it aims to put forward new information concerning the technical characteristics of State Road Transport Undertakings (henceforth, STUs) on the b asis of a sample of medium and large-size Indian states. Second, it aims to analyze the level of productive efficiency of those undertakings. It is hoped that results will be useful in evaluating the possible changes in public policies relating to passenge r road transport in India. The analysis is based on estimation of a cost function. The sample is made up of a panel data set taking observations of nine STUs that operated during the period 1983-84 to 1996-97. The specified functional form is translogarit hmic. The output is measured as revenue pass.-kms. The cost function includes the network length for each STU, hence permitting evidence concerning returns to density and returns to scale. The use of panel data permits us to estimate the cost function, taking into account that each STU is affected by the specific characteristics of each individual state, the different features of the network and by different levels of productive efficiency. The long-run economies of scale is calculated by taking into account the effects of size on the fixed costs. Finally, we analyzed the relative efficiency of the STUs and the factors, which are most likely to affect it.
This paper examines the cost structure particularly cost elasticities, returns to scale, marginal... more This paper examines the cost structure particularly cost elasticities, returns to scale, marginal cost of production, technological progress, demand for factor of production, and factor substitution in publicly owned State Transport Undertakings (STUs) in India. To examine these issues, a translog cost function is estimated jointly with factor share equations subject to required coefficient restrictions by using the method of 'Zellner's iterative' technique using the annual data of 11 STUs from 2000-01 to 2010-11. We find that the cost function is fully separable between time (technology) and its other arguments; therefore, technological progress experienced by STUs is (Hicks) neutral and returns to scale depends on output alone. Further analysis reveals that the average cost curve for STUs is U-shaped and it is increasing for the mean firm; consequently, large and medium size STUs are operating on diseconomies of scale whereas relatively small size STUs are experiencing economies of scale. We also examined the technological progress that STUs have enjoyed over time. It is found that the technological progress is same across STUs, though diminishing over time. STUs' cost savings due to technological progress has reduced from 2.1% of the total cost in 2000-01 to 1.3% of the total cost in 2010-11. Finally, we analyzed price elasticities of input demand and elasticity of substitution. It is found that all input demands are price inelastic and cross-price effect is not very strong. Since all own-partial elasticities of substitution are negative, hence, as required, the postulates of the cost minimizing factor demand theory are satisfied. & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 3 All monetary units are at constant 2010-11 prices. 4 Bus cost includes depreciation, interest payment and maintenance cost. Wherein maintenance cost is costs on auto spare parts, springs, lubricants, tyres and tubes, batteries, general items, and reconditioned items. 5 For further analysis on this issue see Chiang and Friedlaender (1984), Nelson (1984), Baltagi and Griffin (1988), Hulten (1992), and Andrikopoulos and Loizides (1998).
The main aim of this study is to analyze the level of relative efficiency of State Transport Unde... more The main aim of this study is to analyze the level of relative efficiency of State Transport Undertakings (STUs) in India during 2000s. The analysis is based on estimation of a translog cost function using fixed effects model of the panel data method. In the context of this study, the prime advantage associated with this method is that it allows the cost function to be estimated by taking into account the variables peculiar to each STU. We find that, on an average, smaller STUs are more efficient than their larger counterparts. It seems that there is inverse relationship between ranking based on efficiency measures and size. We also found that the STU, which operates with larger route length per bus is more likely to experience a higher level of efficiency. Furthermore, a higher level of utilization of buses and their capacity would lead to a higher level of efficiency in STUs.
Abstract: This paper attempts to measure cost-inefficiency of nine major Indian State Road Transp... more Abstract: This paper attempts to measure cost-inefficiency of nine major Indian State Road Transport Undertakings (STU) for the period 1983-84 to 1996-97 in a manner that allows this inefficiency to vary both across time as well as across STUs. We found that given the size distribution of the STUs and relevant measures of their working conditions, the potential for reduction in cost inefficiency is very high. Further, there is evidence of wide disparity among STUs' inefficiency levels, through out the sample period. On an average smaller STUs ...
Address for correspondence: Dr. Sanjay K. Singh Assistant Professor Department of Humanities and ... more Address for correspondence: Dr. Sanjay K. Singh Assistant Professor Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur Kanpur 208016 Uttar Pradesh, India. E-mail: sanjay@iitk.ac.in Fax : +91-512-259-7510 Phone : +91-512-259-7501 (O) : + ...
Cities play a vital role in promoting economic growth and prosperity. The development of cities l... more Cities play a vital role in promoting economic growth and prosperity. The development of cities largely depends upon their physical, social, and institutional infrastructure. In this context, the importance of intraurban transportation is paramount. This article provides an overview of urban transport issues in India. Rather than covering every aspect of urban transportation, it primarily focuses on those areas that are important from a policy point of view. The article first reviews the trends of vehicular growth and availability of transport infrastructure in Indian cities. This is followed by a discussion on the nature and magnitude of urban transport problems such as congestion, pollution, and road accidents. Building on this background, the article proposes policy measures to improve urban transportation in India. Indian cities cannot afford to cater only to private cars and two-wheelers and there has to be a general recognition that policy should be designed in such a way that it reduces the need to travel by personalized modes and boosts public transport system. This requires both an increase in quantity as well as quality of public transport and effective use of demand as well as supply-side management measures. At the same time, people should be encouraged to walk and cycle and government should support investments that make cycling and walking safer.
Road traffic injuries and deaths are a hidden epidemic in the cities of Uttar Pradesh. With one e... more Road traffic injuries and deaths are a hidden epidemic in the cities of Uttar Pradesh. With one exception they have among the highest road accident fatalities in India. Despite this, road safety is yet to be a political priority in UP. The time has come for the state as well as local governments to curtail traffic accidents through road safety education and enforcement and also to mediate the outcome of accidents by designing safe roads with affordable and cost-effective measures.
International Journal of Society Systems Science, 2015
The main aim of this study is to measure the quality of life and find out the key factors affecti... more The main aim of this study is to measure the quality of life and find out the key factors affecting the same using a case study of Lucknow City. The study is based on a survey of objective as well as subjective questions that are seen as indicators of quality of life. The people of Lucknow were asked to put their opinion on different measures of quality of life. The collected sample of over 300 responses on a questionnaire is subjected to principal component analysis, a statistical technique for dimensionality reduction of the dataset, and descriptive analysis. Principal component analysis revealed seven underlying factors/components as the key determinants of the quality of life in Lucknow. Out of these seven components, personal, social and economic well-being is found to be the most important one followed by the ambient environment, transport infrastructure and police services, housing facilities, social infrastructure, utility services, and social environment.
The total size of the edible oils market in India was estimated to be 13 million tons (mt) out of... more The total size of the edible oils market in India was estimated to be 13 million tons (mt) out of which imports amounted to about 4 mt. This made India the largest importer of edible oils in the world. Various edible oils are consumed in the India depending on the regional tastes and preferences. A differential in the duties on oil seed and oils made it favorable to import edible oils instead of oilseeds. Similarly, a differential duty between the refined oil and the raw oil encouraged the import of raw oil in order to support the domestic refineries. Adani Wilmar Limited (AWL) was a part of the Adani group, which started as a trading company mainly into exports of commodities. The group had recently entered into the infrastructure sector with the building of the Mundra port. The group had formed a joint venture with Wilmar Trading of Singapore to enter into the edible oil business. The company was setting up a re.nery with capacity of 600 tons per day. It planned to sell half of th...
Dr. Sanjay K. Singh Assistant Professor Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Insti... more Dr. Sanjay K. Singh Assistant Professor Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur Kanpur 208016 Uttar Pradesh, India. E-mail: sanjay@iitk.ac.in Fax : +91-512-259-7510 Phone : +91-512-259-7501 (O) : +91-512-259-...
India is in a phase of economic transition as well as transport infrastructure development. Mobil... more India is in a phase of economic transition as well as transport infrastructure development. Mobility in the country is becoming crucial for economic development but at the same time difficult with the rise in average income of Indians. Future shape of mobility needs to be predicted to help aide transportation planning and policy. In this paper the concept of delphi-method is applied to project the relative impact of various influencing factors on the future (2020) of mobility in India. The results of the projection are plotted as perception charts for visual comprehension of mobility indicators and are compared with statistical predictions. As perceived, the three mobility indicators passenger kilometre travelled/capita, vehicle kilometre travelled/capita and motor vehicles/1000 population are found to be very sensitive to fuel costs. Further factors like government policy are found to have a healthy influence over these indicators. Abstract India is in a phase of economic transition as well as transport infrastructure development. Mobility in the country is becoming crucial for economic development but at the same time difficult with the rise in average income of Indians. Future shape of mobility needs to be predicted to help aide transportation planning and policy. In this paper the concept of delphi-method is applied to project the relative impact of various influencing factors on the future (2020) of mobility in India. The results of the projection are plotted as perception charts for visual comprehension of mobility indicators and are compared with statistical predictions. As perceived, the three mobility indicators passenger kilometre travelled/capita, vehicle kilometre travelled/capita and motor vehicles/1000 population are found to be very sensitive to fuel costs. Further factors like government policy are found to have a healthy influence over these indicators.
The main aim of this paper is to analyze the road accidents in India at national, state, and metr... more The main aim of this paper is to analyze the road accidents in India at national, state, and metropolitan city level. Analysis shows that the distribution of road accidental deaths and injuries in India varies according to age, gender, month and time. Age group 30-59 years is the most vulnerable population group, though males face higher level of fatalities and injuries than their female counterparts. Moreover, road accidents are relatively higher in extreme weather and during working hours. Analysis of road accident scenario at state and city level shows that there is a huge variation in fatality risk across states and cities. Fatality risk in 16 out of 35 states and union territories is higher than the all India average. Although, burden of road accidents in India is marginally lower in its metropolitan cities, almost 50% of the cities face higher fatality risk than their moffusil counterparts. In general, while in many developed and developing countries including China, road safety situation is generally improving, India faces a worsening situation. Without increased efforts and new initiatives, the total number of road traffic deaths in India is likely to cross the mark of 250,000 by the year 2025. There is thus an urgent need to recognize the worsening situation in road deaths and injuries and to take appropriate action.
This paper examines changes in productivity and profitability of Uttar Pradesh State Road Transpo... more This paper examines changes in productivity and profitability of Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) using its annual data from 1984-85 to 2009-10. Another objective of the paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of calculating the total price performance measure, i.e., tracking the growth of input factor prices relative to the prices received for the outputs. Analysis of data reveals that UPSRTC achieved tremendous growth in its productivity during the sample period but all of its productivity gains are passed on to its customers. That's why there is virtually no change in its profitability from 1994-95 to 2009-10. However, there is a significant difference in the trend between first and second half of the sample period. In the first half, productivity growth was far lower than that in the second half whereas input factor prices compared with output prices increased rapidly. Due to this, UPSRTC's financial performance worsened during the first half and improved during the second half of the sample period.
Optimal pricing facilitates attainment of specific goals. The optimum price to achieve profit max... more Optimal pricing facilitates attainment of specific goals. The optimum price to achieve profit maximization may differ from the one needed to maximize welfare or to ensure the highest revenue. Profit maximization is the traditional motivation of the private firms. In case of private monopoly supplier, it is almost certain that the profit maximizing price will result in charges above marginal and average cost. That's why, traditionally in most countries, public sector firms are involved in supplying essential goods and services and operate in an industry that experiences natural monopoly characteristics where it is cost effective to have a single firm to supply the whole market. Pricing in public sector firms is as important as it is in private sector since prices are an instrument for coordinating supply and demand of goods and services. This paper discusses the theory of public sector pricing and its application to publicly supplied bus transport services using a case study of state transport undertakings in India. The paper focuses on extended version of the Boiteux (1956) model following the analysis in line with Bös (1994). Although, implementation of the general extended Boiteux model presents a challenge with respect to information and computation, paper shows that some simplifying assumptions can be made to find out optimal prices for publicly supplied bus transport services.
The motive of this study is to put forward new information concerning the productivity and produc... more The motive of this study is to put forward new information concerning the productivity and productive efficiency of the State Road Transport Undertakings (STUs) in India during 2000s. A well-known multilateral index procedure proposed by Caves, Christensen, and Diewert (1982) is used to compute the growth and relative levels of total factor productivity of the STUs. Productive efficiency estimates are then calculated by separating the effects of variations in the variables beyond managerial control from the total factor productivity measures. We also examined the temporal relationship of the cross-sectional rankings of individual STUs' productive efficiency estimates. To address this issue, we calculated Kendall's index of rank concordance along with coefficient of variation of productive efficiency estimates for the sample period. Annual data for a sample of eleven STUs that operated during the period 2000-01 to 2010-11 are used for the purpose of estimation. We find that there is a wide disparity among STUs according to their total factor productivity and productive efficiency levels and growth. Although not very strong, there is a positive relationship between total factor productivity and size of STUs. However, productive efficiency and size of STUs has statistically insignificant relationship, which shows that the productive efficiency of STUs is independent of their size. Comparing productive efficiency with the total factor productivity, it is found that within a firm, productive efficiency has a much larger spread whereas, inter-firm spread is less in case of productive efficiency. Using regression analysis, we found that although the coefficient of variation of productive efficiency estimates is decreasing over time, but decrease is statistically insignificant. According to multi-annual Kendall index, the null hypothesis of no association between productive efficiency ranks is rejected. However, according to binary-Kendall index, the null hypothesis could not be rejected for all the years. In other words, cross-sectional dispersion of STUs' productive efficiency is diminishing over time but not significantly.
This paper will analyze crimes against women in India at the national as well as the state and un... more This paper will analyze crimes against women in India at the national as well as the state and union territory levels. The crimes will include kidnapping and the abduction of women, rape, and dowry deaths. We will identify the major issues related to such heinous crimes and discuss potential countermeasures.
Cities and towns play a vital role in promoting economic growth and prosperity. Although less tha... more Cities and towns play a vital role in promoting economic growth and prosperity. Although less than one-third of India's people live in cities and towns, these areas generate over two-third of the country's income and account for 90% of government revenues. In the coming years, as India becomes more and more urbanized, urban areas will play a critical role in sustaining high rates of economic growth. But, economic growth momentum can be sustained if and only if cities function efficiently-that their resources are used to maximize the cities' contribution to national income. City efficiency largely depends upon the effectiveness of its transport systems, that is, efficacy with which people and goods are moved throughout the city. Poor transport systems stifle economic growth and development, and the net effect may be a loss of competitiveness in both domestic as well as international markets. Although Indian cities have lower vehicle ownership rate, number of vehicles per capita, than their counterparts in developed countries, they suffer from worse congestion, delay, pollution, and accidents than cities in the industrialized world. This paper provides an overview of urban transport issues and challenges in India. Rather than covering every aspect of urban transportation, it primarily focuses on those areas that are important from policy point of view. The paper first reviews the trends of vehicular growth and availability of transport infrastructure in Indian cities. This is followed by a discussion on the nature and magnitude of urban transport problems such as congestion, pollution and road accidents. Building on this background, the paper proposes policy measures to improve urban transportation in India.
The main aim of this study is to measure the quality of life and find out the key factors affecti... more The main aim of this study is to measure the quality of life and find out the key factors affecting the same using a case study of Lucknow City. The study is based on a survey of objective as well as subjective questions that are seen as indicators of quality of life. The people of Lucknow were asked to put their opinion on different measures of quality of life. The collected sample of over 300 responses on a questionnaire is subjected to principal component analysis, a statistical technique for dimensionality reduction of the dataset, and descriptive analysis. Principal component analysis revealed seven underlying factors/components as the key determinants of the quality of life in Lucknow. Out of these seven components, personal, social and economic well-being is found to be the most important one followed by the ambient environment, transport infrastructure and police services, housing facilities, social infrastructure, utility services, and social environment.
The aim of this study is twofold. First, it aims to put forward new information concerning the te... more The aim of this study is twofold. First, it aims to put forward new information concerning the technical characteristics of State Road Transport Undertakings (henceforth, STUs) on the b asis of a sample of medium and large-size Indian states. Second, it aims to analyze the level of productive efficiency of those undertakings. It is hoped that results will be useful in evaluating the possible changes in public policies relating to passenge r road transport in India. The analysis is based on estimation of a cost function. The sample is made up of a panel data set taking observations of nine STUs that operated during the period 1983-84 to 1996-97. The specified functional form is translogarit hmic. The output is measured as revenue pass.-kms. The cost function includes the network length for each STU, hence permitting evidence concerning returns to density and returns to scale. The use of panel data permits us to estimate the cost function, taking into account that each STU is affected by the specific characteristics of each individual state, the different features of the network and by different levels of productive efficiency. The long-run economies of scale is calculated by taking into account the effects of size on the fixed costs. Finally, we analyzed the relative efficiency of the STUs and the factors, which are most likely to affect it.
This paper examines the cost structure particularly cost elasticities, returns to scale, marginal... more This paper examines the cost structure particularly cost elasticities, returns to scale, marginal cost of production, technological progress, demand for factor of production, and factor substitution in publicly owned State Transport Undertakings (STUs) in India. To examine these issues, a translog cost function is estimated jointly with factor share equations subject to required coefficient restrictions by using the method of 'Zellner's iterative' technique using the annual data of 11 STUs from 2000-01 to 2010-11. We find that the cost function is fully separable between time (technology) and its other arguments; therefore, technological progress experienced by STUs is (Hicks) neutral and returns to scale depends on output alone. Further analysis reveals that the average cost curve for STUs is U-shaped and it is increasing for the mean firm; consequently, large and medium size STUs are operating on diseconomies of scale whereas relatively small size STUs are experiencing economies of scale. We also examined the technological progress that STUs have enjoyed over time. It is found that the technological progress is same across STUs, though diminishing over time. STUs' cost savings due to technological progress has reduced from 2.1% of the total cost in 2000-01 to 1.3% of the total cost in 2010-11. Finally, we analyzed price elasticities of input demand and elasticity of substitution. It is found that all input demands are price inelastic and cross-price effect is not very strong. Since all own-partial elasticities of substitution are negative, hence, as required, the postulates of the cost minimizing factor demand theory are satisfied. & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 3 All monetary units are at constant 2010-11 prices. 4 Bus cost includes depreciation, interest payment and maintenance cost. Wherein maintenance cost is costs on auto spare parts, springs, lubricants, tyres and tubes, batteries, general items, and reconditioned items. 5 For further analysis on this issue see Chiang and Friedlaender (1984), Nelson (1984), Baltagi and Griffin (1988), Hulten (1992), and Andrikopoulos and Loizides (1998).
The main aim of this study is to analyze the level of relative efficiency of State Transport Unde... more The main aim of this study is to analyze the level of relative efficiency of State Transport Undertakings (STUs) in India during 2000s. The analysis is based on estimation of a translog cost function using fixed effects model of the panel data method. In the context of this study, the prime advantage associated with this method is that it allows the cost function to be estimated by taking into account the variables peculiar to each STU. We find that, on an average, smaller STUs are more efficient than their larger counterparts. It seems that there is inverse relationship between ranking based on efficiency measures and size. We also found that the STU, which operates with larger route length per bus is more likely to experience a higher level of efficiency. Furthermore, a higher level of utilization of buses and their capacity would lead to a higher level of efficiency in STUs.
Abstract: This paper attempts to measure cost-inefficiency of nine major Indian State Road Transp... more Abstract: This paper attempts to measure cost-inefficiency of nine major Indian State Road Transport Undertakings (STU) for the period 1983-84 to 1996-97 in a manner that allows this inefficiency to vary both across time as well as across STUs. We found that given the size distribution of the STUs and relevant measures of their working conditions, the potential for reduction in cost inefficiency is very high. Further, there is evidence of wide disparity among STUs' inefficiency levels, through out the sample period. On an average smaller STUs ...
Address for correspondence: Dr. Sanjay K. Singh Assistant Professor Department of Humanities and ... more Address for correspondence: Dr. Sanjay K. Singh Assistant Professor Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur Kanpur 208016 Uttar Pradesh, India. E-mail: sanjay@iitk.ac.in Fax : +91-512-259-7510 Phone : +91-512-259-7501 (O) : + ...
Cities play a vital role in promoting economic growth and prosperity. The development of cities l... more Cities play a vital role in promoting economic growth and prosperity. The development of cities largely depends upon their physical, social, and institutional infrastructure. In this context, the importance of intraurban transportation is paramount. This article provides an overview of urban transport issues in India. Rather than covering every aspect of urban transportation, it primarily focuses on those areas that are important from a policy point of view. The article first reviews the trends of vehicular growth and availability of transport infrastructure in Indian cities. This is followed by a discussion on the nature and magnitude of urban transport problems such as congestion, pollution, and road accidents. Building on this background, the article proposes policy measures to improve urban transportation in India. Indian cities cannot afford to cater only to private cars and two-wheelers and there has to be a general recognition that policy should be designed in such a way that it reduces the need to travel by personalized modes and boosts public transport system. This requires both an increase in quantity as well as quality of public transport and effective use of demand as well as supply-side management measures. At the same time, people should be encouraged to walk and cycle and government should support investments that make cycling and walking safer.
Road traffic injuries and deaths are a hidden epidemic in the cities of Uttar Pradesh. With one e... more Road traffic injuries and deaths are a hidden epidemic in the cities of Uttar Pradesh. With one exception they have among the highest road accident fatalities in India. Despite this, road safety is yet to be a political priority in UP. The time has come for the state as well as local governments to curtail traffic accidents through road safety education and enforcement and also to mediate the outcome of accidents by designing safe roads with affordable and cost-effective measures.
International Journal of Society Systems Science, 2015
The main aim of this study is to measure the quality of life and find out the key factors affecti... more The main aim of this study is to measure the quality of life and find out the key factors affecting the same using a case study of Lucknow City. The study is based on a survey of objective as well as subjective questions that are seen as indicators of quality of life. The people of Lucknow were asked to put their opinion on different measures of quality of life. The collected sample of over 300 responses on a questionnaire is subjected to principal component analysis, a statistical technique for dimensionality reduction of the dataset, and descriptive analysis. Principal component analysis revealed seven underlying factors/components as the key determinants of the quality of life in Lucknow. Out of these seven components, personal, social and economic well-being is found to be the most important one followed by the ambient environment, transport infrastructure and police services, housing facilities, social infrastructure, utility services, and social environment.
The total size of the edible oils market in India was estimated to be 13 million tons (mt) out of... more The total size of the edible oils market in India was estimated to be 13 million tons (mt) out of which imports amounted to about 4 mt. This made India the largest importer of edible oils in the world. Various edible oils are consumed in the India depending on the regional tastes and preferences. A differential in the duties on oil seed and oils made it favorable to import edible oils instead of oilseeds. Similarly, a differential duty between the refined oil and the raw oil encouraged the import of raw oil in order to support the domestic refineries. Adani Wilmar Limited (AWL) was a part of the Adani group, which started as a trading company mainly into exports of commodities. The group had recently entered into the infrastructure sector with the building of the Mundra port. The group had formed a joint venture with Wilmar Trading of Singapore to enter into the edible oil business. The company was setting up a re.nery with capacity of 600 tons per day. It planned to sell half of th...
Dr. Sanjay K. Singh Assistant Professor Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Insti... more Dr. Sanjay K. Singh Assistant Professor Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur Kanpur 208016 Uttar Pradesh, India. E-mail: sanjay@iitk.ac.in Fax : +91-512-259-7510 Phone : +91-512-259-7501 (O) : +91-512-259-...
India is in a phase of economic transition as well as transport infrastructure development. Mobil... more India is in a phase of economic transition as well as transport infrastructure development. Mobility in the country is becoming crucial for economic development but at the same time difficult with the rise in average income of Indians. Future shape of mobility needs to be predicted to help aide transportation planning and policy. In this paper the concept of delphi-method is applied to project the relative impact of various influencing factors on the future (2020) of mobility in India. The results of the projection are plotted as perception charts for visual comprehension of mobility indicators and are compared with statistical predictions. As perceived, the three mobility indicators passenger kilometre travelled/capita, vehicle kilometre travelled/capita and motor vehicles/1000 population are found to be very sensitive to fuel costs. Further factors like government policy are found to have a healthy influence over these indicators. Abstract India is in a phase of economic transition as well as transport infrastructure development. Mobility in the country is becoming crucial for economic development but at the same time difficult with the rise in average income of Indians. Future shape of mobility needs to be predicted to help aide transportation planning and policy. In this paper the concept of delphi-method is applied to project the relative impact of various influencing factors on the future (2020) of mobility in India. The results of the projection are plotted as perception charts for visual comprehension of mobility indicators and are compared with statistical predictions. As perceived, the three mobility indicators passenger kilometre travelled/capita, vehicle kilometre travelled/capita and motor vehicles/1000 population are found to be very sensitive to fuel costs. Further factors like government policy are found to have a healthy influence over these indicators.
The main aim of this paper is to analyze the road accidents in India at national, state, and metr... more The main aim of this paper is to analyze the road accidents in India at national, state, and metropolitan city level. Analysis shows that the distribution of road accidental deaths and injuries in India varies according to age, gender, month and time. Age group 30-59 years is the most vulnerable population group, though males face higher level of fatalities and injuries than their female counterparts. Moreover, road accidents are relatively higher in extreme weather and during working hours. Analysis of road accident scenario at state and city level shows that there is a huge variation in fatality risk across states and cities. Fatality risk in 16 out of 35 states and union territories is higher than the all India average. Although, burden of road accidents in India is marginally lower in its metropolitan cities, almost 50% of the cities face higher fatality risk than their moffusil counterparts. In general, while in many developed and developing countries including China, road safety situation is generally improving, India faces a worsening situation. Without increased efforts and new initiatives, the total number of road traffic deaths in India is likely to cross the mark of 250,000 by the year 2025. There is thus an urgent need to recognize the worsening situation in road deaths and injuries and to take appropriate action.
This paper examines changes in productivity and profitability of Uttar Pradesh State Road Transpo... more This paper examines changes in productivity and profitability of Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) using its annual data from 1984-85 to 2009-10. Another objective of the paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of calculating the total price performance measure, i.e., tracking the growth of input factor prices relative to the prices received for the outputs. Analysis of data reveals that UPSRTC achieved tremendous growth in its productivity during the sample period but all of its productivity gains are passed on to its customers. That's why there is virtually no change in its profitability from 1994-95 to 2009-10. However, there is a significant difference in the trend between first and second half of the sample period. In the first half, productivity growth was far lower than that in the second half whereas input factor prices compared with output prices increased rapidly. Due to this, UPSRTC's financial performance worsened during the first half and improved during the second half of the sample period.
Optimal pricing facilitates attainment of specific goals. The optimum price to achieve profit max... more Optimal pricing facilitates attainment of specific goals. The optimum price to achieve profit maximization may differ from the one needed to maximize welfare or to ensure the highest revenue. Profit maximization is the traditional motivation of the private firms. In case of private monopoly supplier, it is almost certain that the profit maximizing price will result in charges above marginal and average cost. That's why, traditionally in most countries, public sector firms are involved in supplying essential goods and services and operate in an industry that experiences natural monopoly characteristics where it is cost effective to have a single firm to supply the whole market. Pricing in public sector firms is as important as it is in private sector since prices are an instrument for coordinating supply and demand of goods and services. This paper discusses the theory of public sector pricing and its application to publicly supplied bus transport services using a case study of state transport undertakings in India. The paper focuses on extended version of the Boiteux (1956) model following the analysis in line with Bös (1994). Although, implementation of the general extended Boiteux model presents a challenge with respect to information and computation, paper shows that some simplifying assumptions can be made to find out optimal prices for publicly supplied bus transport services.
The motive of this study is to put forward new information concerning the productivity and produc... more The motive of this study is to put forward new information concerning the productivity and productive efficiency of the State Road Transport Undertakings (STUs) in India during 2000s. A well-known multilateral index procedure proposed by Caves, Christensen, and Diewert (1982) is used to compute the growth and relative levels of total factor productivity of the STUs. Productive efficiency estimates are then calculated by separating the effects of variations in the variables beyond managerial control from the total factor productivity measures. We also examined the temporal relationship of the cross-sectional rankings of individual STUs' productive efficiency estimates. To address this issue, we calculated Kendall's index of rank concordance along with coefficient of variation of productive efficiency estimates for the sample period. Annual data for a sample of eleven STUs that operated during the period 2000-01 to 2010-11 are used for the purpose of estimation. We find that there is a wide disparity among STUs according to their total factor productivity and productive efficiency levels and growth. Although not very strong, there is a positive relationship between total factor productivity and size of STUs. However, productive efficiency and size of STUs has statistically insignificant relationship, which shows that the productive efficiency of STUs is independent of their size. Comparing productive efficiency with the total factor productivity, it is found that within a firm, productive efficiency has a much larger spread whereas, inter-firm spread is less in case of productive efficiency. Using regression analysis, we found that although the coefficient of variation of productive efficiency estimates is decreasing over time, but decrease is statistically insignificant. According to multi-annual Kendall index, the null hypothesis of no association between productive efficiency ranks is rejected. However, according to binary-Kendall index, the null hypothesis could not be rejected for all the years. In other words, cross-sectional dispersion of STUs' productive efficiency is diminishing over time but not significantly.
This paper will analyze crimes against women in India at the national as well as the state and un... more This paper will analyze crimes against women in India at the national as well as the state and union territory levels. The crimes will include kidnapping and the abduction of women, rape, and dowry deaths. We will identify the major issues related to such heinous crimes and discuss potential countermeasures.
Cities and towns play a vital role in promoting economic growth and prosperity. Although less tha... more Cities and towns play a vital role in promoting economic growth and prosperity. Although less than one-third of India's people live in cities and towns, these areas generate over two-third of the country's income and account for 90% of government revenues. In the coming years, as India becomes more and more urbanized, urban areas will play a critical role in sustaining high rates of economic growth. But, economic growth momentum can be sustained if and only if cities function efficiently-that their resources are used to maximize the cities' contribution to national income. City efficiency largely depends upon the effectiveness of its transport systems, that is, efficacy with which people and goods are moved throughout the city. Poor transport systems stifle economic growth and development, and the net effect may be a loss of competitiveness in both domestic as well as international markets. Although Indian cities have lower vehicle ownership rate, number of vehicles per capita, than their counterparts in developed countries, they suffer from worse congestion, delay, pollution, and accidents than cities in the industrialized world. This paper provides an overview of urban transport issues and challenges in India. Rather than covering every aspect of urban transportation, it primarily focuses on those areas that are important from policy point of view. The paper first reviews the trends of vehicular growth and availability of transport infrastructure in Indian cities. This is followed by a discussion on the nature and magnitude of urban transport problems such as congestion, pollution and road accidents. Building on this background, the paper proposes policy measures to improve urban transportation in India.
The main aim of this study is to measure the quality of life and find out the key factors affecti... more The main aim of this study is to measure the quality of life and find out the key factors affecting the same using a case study of Lucknow City. The study is based on a survey of objective as well as subjective questions that are seen as indicators of quality of life. The people of Lucknow were asked to put their opinion on different measures of quality of life. The collected sample of over 300 responses on a questionnaire is subjected to principal component analysis, a statistical technique for dimensionality reduction of the dataset, and descriptive analysis. Principal component analysis revealed seven underlying factors/components as the key determinants of the quality of life in Lucknow. Out of these seven components, personal, social and economic well-being is found to be the most important one followed by the ambient environment, transport infrastructure and police services, housing facilities, social infrastructure, utility services, and social environment.
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Papers by Sanjay Singh