The deregulation of the U.S. railroad industry has largely been considered a success, as costs and rates have fallen due to changes in the mix of traffic and industry consolidation. However, rates did not fall as quickly as costs, and since 2000 rates have been rising while many measures of cost have remained relatively stable. We investigate these changes in rail rates using a sample of agricultural shipments from 2000–2016. We provide evidence that even after controlling for changes in cost drivers such as fuel, the relationships between prices and determinants have changed over time, suggesting that railroad pricing rules have driven increases in rates faced by shippers.

美国铁路行业的放松管制在很大程度上被认为是成功的，因为交通和行业整合组合的变化导致成本和费率下降。然而，利率下降的速度并没有成本下降得那么快，而且自 2000 年以来，利率一直在上升，而许多成本衡量指标却保持相对稳定。我们使用 2000 年至 2016 年的农产品运输样本来调查铁路运价的这些变化。我们提供的证据表明，即使在控制了燃料等成本驱动因素的变化之后，价格与决定因素之间的关系也会随着时间的推移而发生变化，这表明铁路定价规则导致了托运人面临的费率上升。