IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/net/wpaper/0708.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Funding Universal Service: The Effect of Telecommunications Subsidy Programs on Competition and Retail Prices

Author

Abstract

There is general concern that producer subsidies distort competition. We examine a telecommunications subsidy system that transfers money from low cost regions to high cost regions of the U.S. Even though the system is designed to be competitively neutral, we find evidence that the system, combined with carrier of last resort policies, promotes cream skimming by entrants in low cost areas and less entry in high cost areas, where incumbents are more likely than entrants to receive subsidies. We are unable to rule out the possibility that state regulatory policies favor incumbents in states that are net beneficiaries of the subsidy system.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric P. Chiang & Janice A. Hauge, 2007. "Funding Universal Service: The Effect of Telecommunications Subsidy Programs on Competition and Retail Prices," Working Papers 07-08, NET Institute, revised Aug 2007.
    • Handle: RePEc:net:wpaper:0708
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.netinst.org/Chiang-Hauge.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shane Greenstein & Michael Mazzeo, 2006. "The Role Of Differentiation Strategy In Local Telecommunication Entry And Market Evolution: 1999–2002," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 323-350, September.
    2. Donald Alexander & Robert Feinberg, 2004. "Entry in Local Telecommunication Markets," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 25(2), pages 107-127, June.
    3. T. Randolph Beard & David L. Kaserman & John W. Mayo, 2003. "A Graphical Exposition of the Economic Theory of Regulation," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(4), pages 592-606, October.
    4. Garbacz, Christopher & Thompson, Herbert G, 2002. "Estimating Telephone Demand with State Decennial Census Data from 1970-1990," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 317-329, May.
    5. H. Cremer & F. Gasmi & A. Grimaud & J. J. Laffont, 2001. "Universal Service: An economic perspective," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(1), pages 5-43, March.
    6. Chone, Philippe & Flochel, Laurent & Perrot, Anne, 2000. "Universal service obligations and competition," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 249-259, September.
    7. Carlos Martins-Filho & John W. Mayo, 1993. "Demand and Pricing of Telecommunications Services: Evidence and Welfare Implications," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(3), pages 439-454, Autumn.
    8. Garbacz, Christopher & Thompson, Herbert G, Jr, 2003. "Estimating Telephone Demand with State Decennial Census Data from 1970-1990: Update with 2000 Data," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 373-378, November.
    9. Zolnierek, James & Eisner, James & Burton, Ellen, 2001. "An Empirical Examination of Entry Patterns in Local Telephone Markets," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 143-159, March.
    10. Eriksson, Ross C & Kaserman, David L & Mayo, John W, 1998. "Targeted and Untargeted Subsidy Schemes: Evidence from Postdivestiture Efforts to Promote Universal Telephone Service," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(2), pages 477-502, October.
    11. Rosston, Gregory L. & Wimmer, Bradley S., 2000. "The 'state' of universal service," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 261-283, September.
    12. Mueller, Milton, 1993. "Universal service in telephone history : A reconstruction," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 352-369, July.
    13. Barros, Pedro P. & Seabra, M. Carmo, 1999. "Universal service: does competition help or hurt?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 45-60, March.
    14. Trevor R. Roycroft, 2005. "Empirical Analysis of Entry in the Local Exchange Market: The Case of Pacific Bell," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 23(1), pages 107-115, January.
    15. Lukasz Grzybowski, 2005. "Regulation of Mobile Telephony across the European Union: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 47-67, July.
    16. Rosston, G.R. & Wimmer, B.S., 2000. "The "State" of Universal Service," Papers 99-018, United Nations World Employment Programme-.
    17. Wolak, Frank A., 1996. "Can universal service survive in a competitive telecommunications environment? Evidence from the United States consumer expenditure survey," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 163-203, September.
    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. Eric Chiang & Janice Hauge & Mark Jamison, 2007. "Subsidies and distorted markets: Do telecom subsidies affect competition?," Working Papers 07002, Department of Economics, College of Business, Florida Atlantic University.
    2. Chiang, Eric P. & Hauge, Janice A., 2013. "The impact of non-neutral federal regulatory policy on competition," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 1142-1149.
    3. Garbacz, Christopher & Thompson, Herbert Jr., 2005. "Universal telecommunication service: A world perspective," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 495-512, October.
    4. Eva Jansson, 0. "Deregulation, property rights, and legal system," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-25.
    5. Hauge, Janice A. & Jamison, Mark A. & Gentry, Richard J., 2008. "Bureaucrats as entrepreneurs: Do municipal telecommunications providers hinder private entrepreneurs," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 89-102, March.
    6. Calzada, Joan, 2009. "Universal service obligations in the postal sector: The relationship between quality and coverage," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 10-20, February.
    7. Holt, Lynne & Galligan, Mary, 2013. "Mapping the field: Retrospective of the federal universal service programs," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 773-793.
    8. Janice Hauge & Mark Jamison & R. Jewell, 2009. "A Consideration of Telecommunications Market Structure in the Presence of Municipal Provision: The Case of US Cities," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 34(2), pages 135-152, March.
    9. Hauge, Janice A. & Jamison, Mark A. & Todd Jewell, R., 2008. "Discounting telephone service: An examination of participation in the Lifeline Assistance Program using panel data," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 135-149, June.
    10. Daniel Ackerberg & Michael Riordan & Gregory Rosston & Bradley Wimmer, 2008. "Low-Income Demand for Local Telephone Service: Effects of Lifeline and Linkup," Discussion Papers 07-032, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    11. Jayakar, Krishna & Park, Eun-A, 2019. "Reforming the lifeline program: Regulatory federalism in action?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 67-75.
    12. Clarke, George R.G. & Wallsten, Scott J., 2002. "Universal(ly bad) service - providing infrastructure services to rural and poor urban consumers," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2868, The World Bank.
    13. Losada, Ramiro, 2004. "On the definition of affordable prices under universal service obligations," UC3M Working papers. Economics we044015, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    14. Ford, George S., 2021. "Subsidies and substitution: An empirical study of the lifeline program," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1).
    15. Biancini, Sara, 2011. "Behind the scenes of the telecommunications miracle: An empirical analysis of the Indian market," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 238-249, April.
    16. Mark A. Jamison, 2011. "Liberalization and Regulation of Telecoms, Electricity, and Gas in the United States," Chapters, in: Matthias Finger & Rolf W. Künneke (ed.), International Handbook of Network Industries, chapter 21, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Valletti, Tommaso M & Hoernig, Steffen & Barros, Pedro P, 2002. "Universal Service and Entry: The Role of Uniform Pricing and Coverage Constraints," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 169-190, March.
    18. Elizabeth A. Mack & Tony H. Grubesic, 2014. "US broadband policy and the spatio-temporal evolution of broadband markets," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(3), pages 291-308, August.
    19. Thomas S. Conkling, 2020. "Compliance and competition with heterogeneous service providers: the federal Lifeline program," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 74-104, February.
    20. Mirabel, F. & Poudou, J.-C. & Roland, M., 2009. "Universal service obligations: The role of subsidization schemes," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 1-9, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    subsidies; Universal Service Fund; telecommunications; regulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L52 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Industrial Policy; Sectoral Planning Methods
    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:net:wpaper:0708. 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: Nicholas Economides (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.NETinst.org/ .

    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.