Thinking about Ronald Coase, economists generally refer to transaction and social costs, to the importance of property rights and institutions or to the Coase-theorem. Examine his work more closely, a common feature takes shape behind these ideas, the public utilities. The constant and detailed...

The existence and the use of the essential facilities doctrine was questioned in theory and in practice. Although the doctrine was developed in antitrust, it became a frequently cited notion in the regulation of network utilities. Its relevance is hotly debated during the setup of the new...

Several decades of market opening has become a characteristic of network industries. Its main hindrances and aids has come into sight during this period. There is a need now to evaluate the process of market opening and to assess the steps to be taken. Market opening is usually measured by...

The existence and the use of the essential facilities doctrine was questioned in theory and in practice. Although the doctrine was developed in antitrust, it became a frequently cited notion in the regulation of network utilities. Its relevance is hotly debated during the setup of the new...

Several decades of market opening has become a characteristic of network industries. Its main hindrances and aids has come into sight during this period. There is a need now to evaluate the process of market opening and to assess the steps to be taken. Market opening is usually measured by...

Thinking about Ronald Coase, economists generally refer to transaction and social costs, to the importance of property rights and institutions or to the Coase-theorem. Examine his work more closely, a common feature takes shape behind these ideas, the public utilities. The constant and detailed...

When assessing the likely net impact of regulation, many jurisdictions test for specific effects on areas of concern, such as small businesses or the environment, as well as for more generalised costs and benefits. This paper considers how best to design a negative-clearance test for the...

The model that we develop here considers that an upstream firm sells a vital input to downstream firms. There are vertical spillovers and two different regulatory policies of the input price: cost oriented regulation and no-regulation. We also admit two alternative market structures: vertical...