Historical influences on the pricing of rail services: the contributions of Severim de Azevedo in Portugal

• Published in: International journal of management Vol. 29; no. 4; p. 464
• Main Author: Mata, Maria Eugenia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Poole International Journal of Management 01.12.2012
• Subjects: 19th century; 20th century; Analysis; Azevedo, Eugenio Rodrigues Severim de; Costs; Economic aspects; Economic history; Economic theory; Economics; Economists; Engineers; Forecasts and trends; Mathematicians; Microeconomics; Pricing; Pricing policies; Profits; Public good; Railroad transportation; Railroads; Tariffs; Portugal
• ISSN: 0813-0183

Rail services may be interpreted as related to separate and different markets, most of which, if not all, were reputed to be socially important and deserving of government attention for the positive effects on the collective welfare in the nineteenth century. Decisions on rail tariffs were a challenge for nineteenth-century companies, managers and governments. In presenting the Azevedo's resonning, this paper supports and confirms the well-known thesis that managers, railways and public works in general were the pivot points for the firm-theory establishment in a new paradigm that the twentieth century would label as 'neo-classical economics'. Following up Eugenio Rodrigues Severim de Azevedo this paper shows that theory and business empiricism were combined, because of the intrinsic relationships between demand, supply, market behavior, and management. Azevedo deserves to be praised because of his versatile educational profile as a mathematician (from an academic point of view), as a military engineer (from a professional perspective) and a manager who praised economic rationality based on marginal economics. The aim of this paper is to present historical discussion and decisions on the framework for pricing the railway services.