This paper analyses the incentives to upgrade input quality in vertically related (network) industries. Upstream investments have a biased effect on the downstream companies and lead to vertical product differentiation. Different vertical structures such as vertical integration, ownership and...

Regulating seaports is difficult in general, even more so for the weak regulatory institutions common in developing countries. For this reason some countries have awarded these facilities via Demsetz auctions, to the port operator that bids the lowest cargo-handling fee. A major concern with...

What is a good balance between competition and coordination in network industries? Network unbundling aims to promote competition, but this has to be balanced against the downside of unbundling: firm-internal coordination falls away and must be replaced by external market mechanisms. This is a...

In this paper we analyze the impact of motorway networks on production for a panel of twenty one manufacturing and service sectors of eleven EU countries observed over the period 1980-2003. In particular, we analyze if the degree of regulation of the road transport sector affects the link...

Naturally monopolistic network industries are subject to regulation of access to market and charging in order to achieve optimal use of infrastructure and avoid the abuse of monopoly power. Relatively little is known what results does such regulation generate and whether it achieves objectives....

The dissertation attempts to see whether liberalizing Pakistan’s national rail transport system will enable the latter to grow sustainably. First an assessment of existing literature on the subject was conducted. Then Pakistan’s national rail transport system is studied in a multi-facet...

A variety of Proposals for creating more competition within the railroad sector and in the broader freight transport sector are under consideration in countries throughout the world. Brazil, though something of a latecomer to wider infrastructure reform, has recently taken large steps in...

"Regulatory reform" once meant either "alternatives to rate-of-return regulation" or "the advantages of privatization". Now that a broad consensus has been reached on each of these two topics, at least among economists, one subject that has moved to center stage is "vertical restructuring". Many...

The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) is a classic example of regulation, and the origins and operation of this agency have been much analyzed. These have been variously described as examples of public interest regulation, capture regulation, and what I have called predatory regulation. By...

This publication (of 264 pages) represents the proceedings of a roundtable on regulation and competition issues arising in relation to railways. The roundtable was held at the OECD in October 1997. The proceedings includes 2 background papers examining issues in the regulation of railways and...