This work analyses whether there are reasons for regulators to control the capital structures of utilities firms. That control is commonly seen as a suitable ex-ante form of prevention of financial distress. The case of UK utilities is used as case study. It is shown that various concerns...

One of the most heated debates in the current efforts to re-write the Communications Act has been whether the federal government should impose "Network Neutrality" requirements on broadband service providers. While we argue neither for nor against the need for Network Neutrality legislation in...

This paper examines the response of the water and electricity group companies to regulatory pressure and in particular, the first regulatory price review after privatisation. The sample period incorporates industry-specific regulatory price reviews in both the water and electricity sectors and...

Price and quantity regulations, as well as statutory vehicle and driver standards, for the taxi and PHV sector have long been justified on grounds of imperfect information (OECD 2008). The nature of taxi markets in the pre-digital era was such that searching (finding and sorting through the...

Over the past two years, there has been a worldwide regulatory backlash against new smartphone-app-based Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) operators, with Uber probably being the most emblematic one. While a few regulatory clarifications can be justified, the vast majority of measures have been...

Formal institutions, e.g., regulations, are considered crucial determinants of entrepreneurship, but what enables regulatory change when there is a regulatory void, meaning entrepreneurship clashes with existing regulations? Drawing on public choice theory, we hypothesize that regulatory freedom...

Formal institutions, e.g., regulations, are considered crucial determinants of entrepreneurship, but what enables regulatory change when there is a regulatory void, meaning entrepreneurship clashes with existing regulations? Drawing on public choice theory, we hypothesize that regulatory freedom...

Research on the launch of new products in the international realm is scarce. The present paper is the first to document how launch window (difference in months between the first worldwide launch and the subsequent launch in a specific country) and launch price are interrelated and how regulation...

Research question: In 2010, the governing body of European football, UEFA, approved “Financial Fair Play” regulations. Designed to encourage financial discipline, promote stability and foster competitive balance, they focus on a financial breakeven constraint. We analyse the impact of such...

This paper introduces a novel approach for statistically testing group differences in shadow price estimates produced by non parametric efficiency models. The test can be applied across groups being assessed using a common efficient frontier or across groups assessed using different efficient...