Faculteit Toegepaste Economische Wetenschappen

The paper deals with the use of bicycle messengers, also called bike couriers, in the modern logistics chain. In an era where almost every actor -from policy makers to senior managers -is thinking about the environment and sustainability, new innovative concepts are developed worldwide. On the other hand, an abundance of solutions to improve efficiency and overall sustainability of logistics and other related business activities are already available in the market. Reinventing the wheel all over again might not be necessary. One of the methods to deliver parcels in a more sustainable way, is the transport of freight by bike. People on bike deliver and transport post, parcel s or freight with a low volume or weight. Bike couriers are proven to be fast and reliable within congested urban areas. These bikers mainly advertised their ability to go fast from one place to another in a city. Sustainability was a selling argument, but speed was of more importance. Also, in Europe some bike courier markets are reasonably well developed. Specific markets seem to exist for transport of freight by bike. The research question of this paper concerning bicycle messengers is whether these companies can be an economic viable alternative for fossil fuel powered transport, and if so, in what markets these opportunities can be found. The authors draw conclusions about the business model and integrate encountered weaknesses and opportunities. An operational cost calculation is included. A simulation of a round trip delivery scheme in an urban area took place. A van as well as a bike courier solution was compared. To draw some conclusions about the economic feasibility of the round trip by bike courier, the cost per stop is compared and will be discussed. The paper ends with a conclusion on the observations made, and with a number of recommendations.

In Western Europe, the rail freight industry has been liberalized during recent years. The number of actors multiplies, the network connections of railroad and intermodal logistics companies grow and new actors enter the market. A directive called for separated accounting structures between the network provider and the operational activities. The right to privately operate, at first international and afterwards national freight trains came later. The liberalization had a major impact on the former state-owned monopolistic rail companies (the incumbents) and logistics actors calling at them. New market possibilities arose, but more actors now need to collaborate. This paper explores new logistics concepts in Western Europe, involving rail transport, now being in the trial-or investigation phase. This paper deals with the use of rail transport as part of the supply chain in an urban logistics context. The link will be made between two research subjects: the economic and ecologic viability of rail or intermodal transport, and the logistics capacity problems in an urban context, the latter of which is a growing research stream. First, a brief overview of the European railway market will be given. The difference between the European short-distance rail freight organization and American short-haul services will be described. Second, the concept of a new smart supply chain involving rail, developed by Deketele et al., will be given. The theory of the concept was put in to practice in Belgium by Procter and Gamble. This will be highlighted shortly. Afterwards, the concept of the modern supply chain involving rail will be compared to the actual supply chain of the French retail group Monoprix. The Monoprix supply chain will be discussed in the framework developed by Deketele et al. The actual French logistics bottlenecks, modal split, important legislation and The use of rail transport as part of the supply chain in an urban logistics context

The information and views set out in this study are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission's behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.

The information and views set out in this study are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission's behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.

In this paper we find evidence that institutional improvements such as economic liberalization, improved corporate governance, banking sector reform, improvements of rule of law and pushing back corruption have significantly reduced tensions on the exchange market in the formerly planned Central and Eastern European transition economies. We also show that countries with extreme exchange rate arrangements (such as a currency board or a freely floating exchange rate) have – ceteris paribus – been less vulnerable to turbulence on the exchange market than countries with intermediate exchange rate arrangements, such as an adjustable fixed peg. This confirms the so-called bi-polar view on exchange rate regimes for this group of countries. Testing for the interaction between economic fundamentals (current account, domestic credit growth and the inflation differential) and institutions our results are in general quite supporting to the hypothesis that a higher quality of institutions lessen...