This paper investigates the performance of relative rate (RR) switch algorithms for available bit rate (ABR) flow control in asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks. An RR switch can be implemented differently according to the congestion detection and notification methods used. This paper proposes three implementation schemes for an RR switch using various congestion detection and notification methods, and then analyzes the allowed cell rate (ACR) of a source and the queue length at a switch in steady state. The upper and lower bounds for the maximum and minimum queue lengths are also determined for each scheme, respectively, thereby investigating the effects of ABR parameter values on a queue length. Furthermore, a selection method for rate increase factor (RIF) and rate decrease factor (RDF) parameter values is suggested to prevent buffer overflow and underflow.