This paper deals with the German government's proposal to Iiberalize the domestic electricity supply industry. The government bill aims to establish a retail wheeling model in the electricity transmission and distribution System. The Opposition against this model mainly comes from the publicly...

In this paper we consider the impact of vertical integration on a retailer's choices of product variety and specific, brand-supporting investment. In an incomplete contract environment, vertical merger encourages investment in integrated supply, and foreclosure of non-integrated manufacturers....

This paper deals with the efficiency characteristics of alternative governance structures in the electricity sector. The analysis begins with the description of some technical aspects of the electricity supply industry. The goal is to identify the main co-ordination tasks within, and between the...

This paper deals with the efficiency characteristics of alternative regulatory policies in the electricity sector. The analysis begins with the presentation of the analytical concept of the ?regulatory contract, which is based on the New Institutional Economics. The main part of the paper deals...

Gegenstand dieses Beitrags ist ein Überblick über den Status quo des Strombinnenmarkts und die jüngsten Kommissionsvorschläge für eine Änderung der Stromrichtlinie und den Erlass einer Netznutzungsverordnung für grenzüberschreitende Stromlieferungen. Besonderes Augenmerk wird der Frage...

The paper analyses the interests of China as a member of the G-21, which contributed to the failure of the WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún/Mexico in September 2003. It concludes that the median member of G-21 is more inward-looking and less reform-minded than China. A failure of the Doha...

Globalization seems to have diminished the importance of geographical distance. However, empirical studies find that distance coefficients in gravity equations change little over time. This paper argues that changes in distance coefficients do not carry much information on changes in distance...