Bus and other road-bound services like tram and light railway are the backbone of the German local public transport sector. Based on the characterization of high deficits and fragmentation, five main research questions and hypotheses are investigated in this dissertation. First, advanced Stochastic Frontier models which account for unobserved heterogeneity and heterogeneous output variables are used to study cost efficiency and its determinants such as the vehicle utilization rate. Second, economies of scale and scope are evaluated. Third, based on the finding of substantial economies of scale, potential gains from hypothetical mergers are calculated using Data Envelopment Analysis. Fourth, I focus on competitive tendering, another option to increase efficiency in this sector. Analyzing operator changes, I find in majority regional bus services tendered out and structural conditions significantly increasing the probability for operator changes, like tendering in bigger volumes. Fifth, internal and external cost advantages for express coach services as a diversification option for public transport are confirmed. In conclusion, the results of my research are relevant to the strategic decision process of firm management as well as regulators.

This paper investigates different stakeholder groups’ perceptions on how Chinese investments contribute to the development of Ethiopia in the capital city Addis Ababa. To delimit the thesis, one recently completed infrastructural project was analyzed, namely the Light Railway Transit (LRT) in Addis. This project was a collaboration between the Ethiopian and the Chinese governments and to 85% funded by Chinese loans. By conducting twenty-six semi-structured interviews with interviewees from six strategically selected stakeholder groups, varying perceptions on Ethio-China relations and the LRT project were encountered. The main findings of the study include that the Ethio-China relations have been beneficial for the two governments and that Chinese investments have affected Ethiopia’s economic growth positively. However, in the case of the LRT project, the main observable was that it contributed to developmental image-building and failed to meet some of the other objectives pursued by it, such as providing reliable transportation service to the citizens. Moreover, experts and representatives from international organizations, the Ethiopian private sector and trade unions as well as citizens brought up problems with respect to skill transfer and working conditions related to Chinese investments, among other things. Further, they claimed that Ethio-China relations might negatively affect Ethiopia’s potential for democratization.

Bus and other road-bound services like tram and light railway are the backbone of the German local public transport sector. Based on the characterization of high deficits and fragmentation, five main research questions and hypotheses are investigated in this dissertation. First, advanced Stochastic Frontier models which account for unobserved heterogeneity and heterogeneous output variables are used to study cost efficiency and its determinants such as the vehicle utilization rate. Second, economies of scale and scope are evaluated. Third, based on the finding of substantial economies of scale, potential gains from hypothetical mergers are calculated using Data Envelopment Analysis. Fourth, I focus on competitive tendering, another option to increase efficiency in this sector. Analyzing operator changes, I find in majority regional bus services tendered out and structural conditions significantly increasing the probability for operator changes, like tendering in bigger volumes. Fifth, internal and external cost advantages for express coach services as a diversification option for public transport are confirmed. In conclusion, the results of my research are relevant to the strategic decision process of firm management as well as regulators.