IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-12-00045.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimal pricing of postal services under endogenously determined entry

Author

Listed:
  • Kevin M. Currier

    (Oklahoma State University)

Abstract

Postal reform (liberalization) is occurring rapidly around the world, perhaps most notably in the EU where January 1, 2011 was the date of Full Market Opening (FMO). As a strategy for maintaining the Universal Service Obligation (USO) under FMO, several authors suggest that the sale of access to competitive entrants may provide the universal service provider with significant opportunities to enhance revenues. In a single postal product context, Crew and Kleindorfer (2011) provide conditions under which competitive entry via access is welfare superior to entry via bypass (the Theorem on the Superiority of Access). In this paper, we show that in the single product context, the Laspeyres price cap-based regulatory adjustment process of Vogelsang and Finsinger (1979) may be adapted to determine optimal access-inducing prices, thereby fulfilling the USO efficiently. We also discuss a number of potential problems associated with extending the Theorem on the Superiority of Access and the Vogelsang-Finsinger price capping procedure to a multiproduct context.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin M. Currier, 2012. "Optimal pricing of postal services under endogenously determined entry," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(4), pages 3503-3511.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-12-00045
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2012/Volume32/EB-12-V32-I4-P337.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bloch Francis & Gautier Axel, 2008. "Access Pricing and Entry in the Postal Sector," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 1-24, June.
    2. Brennan, Timothy J, 1989. "Regulating by Capping Prices," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 133-147, June.
    3. David Sappington & Dennis Weisman, 2010. "Price cap regulation: what have we learned from 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry?," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 227-257, December.
    4. Michael A. Crew & Paul R. Kleindorfer, 2006. "The Welfare Effects of Entry and Strategies for Maintaining the USO in the Postal Sector," Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy, in: Michael A. Crew & Paul R. Kleindorfer (ed.), Progress toward Liberalization of the Postal and Delivery Sector, chapter 0, pages 3-22, Springer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dennis L. Weisman, 2019. "The power of regulatory regimes reexamined," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 125-148, December.
    2. Campbell, Alrick, 2018. "Cap prices or cap revenues? The dilemma of electric utility networks," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 802-812.
    3. Valentini, Edilio, 2015. "Indirect taxation, public pricing and price cap regulation: A synthesis," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 9, pages 1-39.
    4. Dennis L. Weisman, 2023. "Measuring the Power of Regulatory Regimes," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 62(1), pages 19-32, February.
    5. Oliver, Matthew E., 2019. "Pricing flexibility under rate-of-return regulation: Effects on network infrastructure investment," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 150-161.
    6. Noel Uri, 2001. "Telecommunications in the United States and Changing Productive Efficiency," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 321-335, September.
    7. Noel Uri, 2003. "The Effect of Incentive Regulation in Telecommunications in the United States," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 169-191, May.
    8. repec:kap:iaecre:v:17:y:2011:i:4:p:465-475 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Mehdi Farsi & Aurelio Fetz & Massimo Filippini, 2007. "Benchmarking and Regulation in the Electricity Distribution Sector," CEPE Working paper series 07-54, CEPE Center for Energy Policy and Economics, ETH Zurich.
    10. Francis Bloch & Axel Gautier, 2017. "Strategic bypass deterrence," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 189-210, October.
    11. Rod Tyers, 2015. "Service Oligopolies and Australia's Economy-Wide Performance," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 48(4), pages 333-356, December.
    12. Brennan, Timothy J., 2000. "The Economics of Competition Policy: Recent Developments and Cautionary Notes in Antitrust and Regulation," Discussion Papers 10716, Resources for the Future.
    13. Bloch Francis & Gautier Axel, 2008. "Access Pricing and Entry in the Postal Sector," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 1-24, June.
    14. Gautier Axel & Paolini Dimitri, 2011. "Universal Service Financing in Competitive Postal Markets: One Size Does Not Fit All," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(3), pages 1-30, September.
    15. Noel Uri & Florence Setzer, 2003. "Assessing the Performance of the Price Cap Plan for Local Exchange Carriers in the United States," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 263-276, May.
    16. Stronzik, Marcus, 2013. "Investitions- und Innovationsanreize: Ein Vergleich zwischen Revenue Cap und Yardstick Competition," WIK Discussion Papers 379, WIK Wissenschaftliches Institut für Infrastruktur und Kommunikationsdienste GmbH.
    17. T. Jamasb & R. Nepal, 2015. "Issues and Options in the Economic Regulation of European Network Security," Competition and Regulation in Network Industries, Intersentia, vol. 16(1), pages 2-23, March.
    18. Gianni De Fraja & Alberto Iozzi, 2008. "The Quest for Quality: A Quality Adjusted Dynamic Regulatory Mechanism," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(4), pages 1011-1040, December.
    19. Felipe Flórez Duncan & Dawn Longman & Leonardo Mautino & Paul Dudley, 2011. "Price Discrimination and Price Differentiation Within Direct Mail," Chapters, in: Michael A. Crew & Paul R. Kleindorfer (ed.), Reinventing the Postal Sector in an Electronic Age, chapter 17, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Keizo Mizuno & Ichiro Yoshino, 2015. "Overusing a bypass under cost-based access regulation: underinvestment with spillovers," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 29-57, February.
    21. Moreno, Plácido & Lozano, Sebastián & Gutiérrez, Ester, 2013. "Dynamic performance analysis of U.S. wireline telecommunication companies," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 469-482.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Postal liberalization; access; bypass; universal service obligation; price cap;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L5 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy
    • L8 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-12-00045. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.