In the paper we study the cost structure of a sample of Italian utility providing in combination gas, water and electricity. The estimates from a Composite cost function model (Pulley e Braunstein, 1992) highlight that costs are lower when multi-utility operate in high-density areas and when...

The paper critically reviews the large amount of empirical studies on diversification strategies and on closely related topics (acquisition and divestment patterns, corporate coherence, return to the core). In the theoretical literature three main motivations have been proposed to explain...

This paper first summarises the main results of the recent literature on competition in telecommunication networks, based on the models of Armstrong (1998) and Laffont et al. (1998). We then extend the basic framework by introducing an investment stage, prior to price competition, in order to...