We consider the impact of a regulatory process forcing an incumbent telecom operator to make its local broadband network available to other companies (local loop unbundling, or LLU). Entrants are then able to upgrade their individual lines and offer Internet services directly to customers....

Using data from 2002 to 2009 inpatient discharge records on deliveries in the Italian region of Piedmont, we assess the impact of an increase in malpractice pressure on obstetric practices, as identified by the introduction of experience-rated malpractice liability insurance. Our identification...

This paper shows that having access to a fast Internet connection is an important determinant of capitalization effects in property markets. We combine microdata on property prices in England between 1995 and 2010 with local availability of Internet broadband connections. Rich variation in...

This paper analyzes merchant markets in the presence of vertically-integrated firms. We discuss when vertical integration tends to increase the elasticity of (derived) demand in the merchant market because of indirect contraints arising from the retail market. We also discuss the relevance of...

This paper analyses the issue of parallel trade (arbitrage) for products protected by intellectual property rights. We discuss a basic trade-off that arises between the ex post better allocation that typically occurs under parallel trade when demand dispersion is not too high, and the ex ante...

We study the existence of countervailing buyer power in a vertical industry where the input price is set via Nash bargainings between one upstream supplier and many differentiated but competing retailers. In case one bilateral bargaining fails, the supplier still has the ability to sell to the...

This paper examines the impact of regulatory intervention to cut termination rates of calls from fixed lines to mobile phones. Under quite general conditions of competition, theory suggests that lower termination charges will result in higher prices for mobile subscribers, a phenomenon known as...

We analyze the short- and long-run implications of third-degree price discrimination in input markets where downstream firms differ in their efficiency. In contrast to the extant literature, where the supplier is typically an unconstrained monopolist, in our model input prices are constrained by...

We propose a distinction between active waste and passive waste as determinants of the cost of public services. Active waste entails utility for the public decision maker (as in the case of bribery) whereas passive waste does not (as in the case of ineffciency due to red tape). To assess the...

We consider a market where consumers mix content offered by different firms. We show how tariff structures have an impact on firms' profits and efficiency. As compared to pure linear pricing, when firms charge two-part tariffs they make higher profits, while consumers are worse off and the...