The High Cost of Taxi Regulation, with Special Reference to Sydney

Numerous regulations govern entry, industry structure, service quality and prices for the Sydney taxi industry. The paper finds few efficiency or social reasons for these regulations and taxi performance is poor. On plausible assumptions, the net benefits from unrestricted entry into the Sydney taxi industry are in the order of $265 million per annum. The productivity and service benefits of reforming entry would be greater if accompanied by reform of the anti-competitive control of the taxi radio networks over all taxi operators.