Testing the Effectiveness of Regulation and Competition on Cable Television Rates
Abstract
Regulation of the cable television industry was marked by remarkable periods of deregulation, re-regulation, and re-deregulation during the 1980s and 1990s. Using FCC firm-level survey data spanning 1993 to 2001, we model and econometrically estimate the effect of regulation and competition on cable rates. Our calculations indicate that while regulation lowered rates for small system operators, it raised them for medium and large systems. Meanwhile, competition consistently decreased rates from 5.6 to 8.8 percent, with even larger declines during periods of regulation. Our results suggest that competition is more effective than regulation in containing cable prices.Download Info
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Paper provided by University of Delaware, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 07-07.Length: 18 pages
Date of creation: Apr 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:dlw:wpaper:07-07.
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Related research
Keywords: cable rates; regulation; competition;Other versions of this item:
- Mary T. Kelly & John S. Ying, 2009. "Testing the Effectiveness of Regulation and Competition on Cable Television Rates," Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics Working Paper Series 3, Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics.
- L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
- L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2007-04-21 (All new papers)
- NEP-COM-2007-04-21 (Industrial Competition)
- NEP-MIC-2007-04-21 (Microeconomics)
- NEP-REG-2007-04-21 (Regulation)
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Thomas W. Hazlett, 1986. "Competition Vs. Franchise Monopoly In Cable Television," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 4(2), pages 80-97, 04.
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- William M. Emmons III & Robin A. Prager, 1997. "The Effects of Market Structure and Ownership on Prices and Service Offerings in the U.S. Cable Television Industry," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 28(4), pages 732-750, Winter.
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- Robert N. Rubinovitz, 1993. "Market Power and Price Increases for Basic Cable Service Since Deregulation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(1), pages 1-18, Spring.
- Adam B. Jaffe & David M. Kanter, 1990. "Market Power of Local Cable Television Franchises: Evidence from the Effects of Deregulation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(2), pages 226-234, Summer.
- Chipty, Tasneem, 1995. "Horizontal Integration for Bargaining Power: Evidence from the Cable Television Industry," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(2), pages 375-97, Summer.
- Bruce M. Owen & Peter R. Greenhalgh, 1986. "Competitive Considerations In Cable Television Franchising," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 4(2), pages 69-79, 04.
- Beil, Richard O, Jr, et al, 1993. "Competition and the Price of Municipal Cable Television Services: An Empirical Study," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 401-15, December.
- John W. Mayo & Yasuji Otsuka, 1991. "Demand, Pricing, and Regulation: Evidence from the Cable TV Industry," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 22(3), pages 396-410, Autumn.
- Mary T. Kelly & John S. Ying, 2003. "On Measuring Competitive Viability and Monopoly Power in Cable: An Empirical Cost Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 962-970, November.
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