In a recent article surveying electricity demand studies, Lester Taylor examined the implications of multistep block pricing for consumption. The framework he used serves here as the basis for comparing lifeline rates, fuel stamps, and direct cash subsidies -- programs proposed to alleviate the...

Regulators of utilities that operate as local monopolies would like to set prices or allow rates of return based upon the quality of a utility's service. However, quality is highly multidimensional. Traditionally, regulators have collected measures of quality on many separate dimensions, and...

This paper shows how the theory of international trade provides a useful framework for examining policy issues confronting educational resource sharing networks. It explores how the basis and gains from trade in free enterprise and centrally planned economies may be related to computer networks....