This paper focuses on the pricing aspect of the "net neutrality" debate -- in particular, the de facto ban on fees levied by Internet service providers on content providers to reach users. This "zero-price" rule may prove desirable for several reasons. Using a two-sided market analysis, we...

Regulatory reform efforts in a broad range of industries have resulted in increased importance of competitive forces as a means to allocate resources and improve economic efficiency. A number of indicators suggest that such forces have been stronger in the United States than in most other OECD...

Regulatory reform efforts in a broad range of industries have resulted in increased importance of competitive forces as a means to allocate resources and improve economic efficiency. A number of indicators suggest that such forces have been stronger in the United States than in most other OECD...

Payment card associations offer both debit and credit cards and, until recently, engaged in a tie-in on the merchant side through the so-called honour-all-cards (HAC) rule. The HAC rule came under attack on the grounds that the credit and debit card markets are separate markets and that the...

Der Beitrag kommentiert den Stand der Literatur zu den Auswirkungen der Medienberichterstattung auf politische Meinungen und Wahlverhalten. Er geht dabei insbesondere auf den theoretischen Hintergrund, die Rolle der Wettbewerbs- und Regulierungspolitik sowie die Besonderheiten des digitalen...

In Deutschland werden in den nächsten Jahren die Stromzähler von Millionen von Stromletztverbrauchern und Betreibern dezentraler Energieerzeugungsanlagen durch vernetzte intelligente Messsysteme, die auch als Smart Meter bekannt sind, ersetzt. Vor dem Hintergrund des gesetzlichen Rahmens und...

We examine how structural changes in the mobile telecommunications industry between 1996, when local markets were duopolies, and 1998, when varying degrees of regulated entry had occurred, affected firms' product offerings and nonlinear pricing strategies. We relate firms' digital technology...

In 2009 the Australian government launched what it claims to be "the single largest infrastructure project in Australia’s history". The project involves building an ultra-fast national broadband network (the "NBN") relying mainly on fibre-to-the-premises ("FTTP") technology. The project is...

This policy study uses U.S. Census microdata to evaluate how subsidies for universal telephone service vary in their impact across low-income racial groups, gender, age, and home ownership. Our demand specification includes both the subsidized monthly price (Lifeline program) and the subsidized...

Following FCC pressure to end bill shock, cellular carriers now alert customers when they exceed usage allowances. We estimate a model of plan choice, usage, and learning using a 2002-2004 panel of cellular bills. Accounting for firm price adjustment, we predict that implementing alerts in...