The deregulation of the airline industry created a myriad of changes in the U.S. air transport system that has both defended and sparked debate on the wisdom of such policy change for over three decades. One of the promises of deregulation from its proponents in the 1970s was increased competition that would lead to a reduction in fares for consumers. Historic data and literature has indeed shown this to be to the case as average airfares have trended downward especially over the last twenty years. Nonetheless, the industry has become much more complex since deregulation in terms of pricing to the point that very sophisticated yield management computer models are used to achieve an optimum balance between load factors and price. Consequently, this has in turn translated into a haphazard experience for most air travelers in the United States; for instance, the cost of a ticket is sometimes lower traveling from coast to coast than within a particular region of the U.S. and paid fares for the exact same trip can deviate dramatically, often based on variation in the date of purchase. Additionally, this has also resulted in a spatial pattern where certain regions throughout the country have enjoyed lower airfares more so than others. This research seeks to identify this regional disparity using a geographically weighted regression and spatial autoregressive models in a sample of 6,200 routes between 80 primary U.S. airports. The results from the global model showed that variables which measure competition (airlines), operating cost (flights, distance) and elasticity (layover time) proved to be statistically significant and had a positive relationship with airfare The GWR results indicated that while some factors like distance, and hub size, were statistically significant almost nationwide, other factors such as frequency, presence of low cost carriers, and numbers of airlines were only statistically significant at certain airports. Finally, the spatial regressions models indicate that the spatial autocorrelation found in U.S. airfares resemble the first order properties of spatial autocorrelation (i.e. spatial heterogeneity) and not the second order properties (i.e. spatial dependence). / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This study tested the job satisfaction of major market radio station general managers in the aftermath of deregulation. The study consisted of two phases, a quantitative, anonymous, mail survey utilizing the nationally recognized Job Descriptive Index (JDI); and a qualitative follow-up telephone interview. Of 246 general managers solicited, 144 returned usable JDI surveys. The JDI consisted of six separate scales, each measuring satisfaction on a different aspect of the job. The followup telephone interview comprised seven questions designed specifically to explore the effects of broadcast deregulation on the respondents. Two hypotheses were tested. The hypotheses tested for differences in job satisfaction scores between radio station general managers and the normative scores of individuals of similar education and job tenure in other industries. In most of the subscales tested there was no significant difference between the two groups. The qualitative telephone survey found widespread dissatisfaction with the effects of deregulation on the broadcast medium.

This study investigated the relationship between firm economic well-being and preventable accident rates in the U.S. motor carrier industry between 1975 and 1986. In 1980 the U.S. motor carrier industry was deregulated which produced highly competitive market conditions. Firms facing such conditions were required to devise coping strategies if they were to survive in this new highly competitive business environment. This research suggests that financially weakened firms trying to survive in a deregulated environment would be forced to rely on cost cutting strategies which are inherently threatening to workplace safety. However, the ability to implement such strategies would be limited at firms where union contracts restricted management from modifying work rules. As such, not all motor carriers were expected to exhibit the same relationship between firm economic well-being and preventable accident rates. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to assess the relationship between carrier economic well-being and preventable accident rates at two points in time, pre-deregulatory 1975-76 and post-deregulatory 1985-86. Three major hypotheses were tested. First, the economic well-being of the firm was hypothesized to have a greater effect on the firm's preventable accident rate after deregulation than before deregulation. Second, the economic well-being of the firm was hypothesized to have less effect on preventable accident rates for union firms than for other types of firms. Third, changes in the effects of firm economic well·being on preventable accident rates were hypothesized to differ less across time for union firms than for other types of firms. As expected, union firms and owner operator firms exhibited a stronger relationship between fum economic well-being and preventable accident rates following deregulation than prior to its passage. However, the regression analysis for nonunion firms produced unexpected results. Nonunion fums exhibited a weaker relationship between fum economic well-being and preventable accident rates in the post-deregulatory model than was the case in the pre-deregulatory model. Possible explanations for this unexpected finding are discussed. In addition, this study challenges a widely accepted approach to analyzing workplace safety problems. That approach advocates focusing on the inappropriate behavior of specific individuals when firms are confronted with deteriorating workplace safety conditions rather than investigating organizational level variables which are routinely associated with unsafe working environments. This distinction is important because merely removing isolated individuals who are thought to compromise workplace safety will not provide a meaningful remedy if, in fact, such unsafe behavior is a response to managerial pressures. This study suggests that such pressuring would trigger :unsafe behavior in almost any individual confronted with similar circumstances. / Master of Science

Although the original intent of this study was to do a pre-and post-deregulation assessment of rail rates per ton-mile, the results using post-deregulation data show a significant decrease in rail rates between 1981 and 2000. While accounting for changes in shipment characteristics, savings for wheat, barley, com, oat, and soybean shippers were 63.80%, 69.17%, 49.07%, 67.97%, and 59.36%, respectively. Rate savings over time for an average 1981 shipment were 45%, 55%, 38%, 45%, and 36% for wheat, barley, com, oat, and soybean shippers, respectively. Analysis regarding the effects of deregulation of rail rates on com, soybean, and wheat on a regional basis shows that rail rates not only differ across commodities, but also among regions. In general, it was found that grain producers within regions that had higher levels of intermodal competition had lower rates than their counterparts with lower levels of intermodal competition. Distribution of benefits as a result of market-based pricing has varied among regions, and these variances are increasing over time.