cross-subsidy
nounEtymology From cross- + subsidy.
1
A subsidy from profit-making operations of a business to support loss-making operations of the same business.
- The grouping into the Big Four (the Great Western Railway, the London Midland & Scottish Railway, the London & North Eastern Railway, and Southern Railway) came into effect in 1923, and created the largest businesses in Britain. It effectively formalised the concept of cross-subsidy, whereby each of the four would subsidise loss-making routes from those that were profitable, without financial support from the government.2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 36:
- Related terms
- cross-subsidise, cross-subsidize, cross-subsidisation, cross-subsidization