The issue of separating telecommunications networks - either functionally within a common ownership structure or structurally, under separate ownership - has attracted much recent attention. The paper discusses different forms of separation and the motives for them, and examines the question of...

We develop a model of retail competition and negotiations with an upstream supplier for several firms of different sizes. Contrary to existing thinking, we demonstrate that the larger a buyer the less countervailing power he possesses over the supplier. The reason for this is that a buyer's...

Retailers may enjoy stable cartel rents in their output market through the formation of a buyer group in their input market. A buyer group allows retailers to credibly commit to increased input prices, which serve to reduce combined final output to the monopoly level; increased input costs are...