The purpose of this study is to analyze the cost structure of Swiss Post’s postal outlets. In particular, the idea is to assess economies of scale and scope in post offices and franchised postal agencies. Information on their optimal size and production structure is of importance from the...

Based on a cross-section data set of 2004 reflecting Swiss Post’s delivery cost we estimate its cost function and derive measures of economies of scale, density and scope.

This paper explores the economies of scale and scope in the electricity, gas and water utilities. These issues have a crucial importance in the actual policy debates about unbundling the integrated utilities into separate entities, a policy which has often been supported by the ongoing reforms...

This paper evaluates the impacts of electrosmog, noise and air pollution on the dwellings’ rents in the cities of Zurich and Lugano. The hedonic price regressions are estimated using a large micro-level data set and taking into account the spatial correlation in unobserved factors. The results...

This paper analyzes the cost structure of the French electricity distribution sector prior to the re-structuring reforms that have been initiated in 2005 and gradually implemented in the form of re-grouping certain activities across distribution units. The aim of this study is to assess the...

The gasoline price differential existing across the border between Switzerland and its neighbouring countries (gasoline price in Switzerland is generally lower than in the neighbouring countries) has encouraged the phenomenon of fuel tourism to develop. People living in the bordering regions of...

The electricity generation in Switzerland is mainly based on hydropower accounting for 58 percent of the total production. The exploitation of water in the hydropower sector can generate significant economic rents. These rents –the so-called resource rents - are defined by the surplus return...

This paper examines the performance of several panel data models to measure cost and scale efficiency in network industries. Network industries are characterized by a high degree of heterogeneity, much of which is network-specific and unobserved. The unaccounted-for heterogeneity can create bias...