An Analysis of the Cost Structure of Railway Freight Industry in Korea

철도화물의 원가구조분석에 관한 연구

The usual distinction made in the literature is between decision facilitating and decision influencing. Because time only runs one way, both uses of cost information are problematic. In the first instance, a cost description (measurement or estimate) is provided to decision makers before a decision is made. Unfortunately, costs can only be measured after the fact. This means that cost analysts must estimate the costs of the alternatives under consideration. In some cases, measured cost is a reliable predictor of future costs; in other cases it is not. Regardless of its reliability, however, it is all we have or can have. Consequently, managers must be informed as to how their performance will be measured and how measured performance will affect outcomes they care about -- promotion, pay, esteem, etc. I will outline the basic approaches to cost measurement and then show how cost measures can be used to facilitate and to influence decisions of the railway industry.