IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jcopol/v42y2019i3d10.1007_s10603-019-09417-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Consumer Protection and the Regulation of Mobile Phone Contracts: A Study of Automatically Renewable Long-Term Contracts Across Jurisdictions

Author

Listed:
  • C. Bisping

    (University of Warwick)

  • T. J. Dodsworth

    (University of Exeter)

Abstract

This article deconstructs mobile phone contracts as an example of long-term contractual relations in four jurisdictions to reveal that there are three elements which define consumer protection. The elements are contract duration, renewal of the agreement and unilateral modification. Each of these factors are regulated differently in each of the jurisdictions, but, assessed collectively, similar levels of consumer protection are found. The authors show that the reason for the different weighting is determined by regulation (subject-specific or general); by external factors, such as technological development, geography or business considerations; and by wider cultural considerations. The comparison of these features across the jurisdictions shows that, ultimately, regulatory intervention plays little role in contract design, unless an overwhelming policy goal is pursued, which means that, in most cases, regulators would be advised to avoid or reduce regulation of mobile phone and other long-term contracts.

Suggested Citation

  • C. Bisping & T. J. Dodsworth, 2019. "Consumer Protection and the Regulation of Mobile Phone Contracts: A Study of Automatically Renewable Long-Term Contracts Across Jurisdictions," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 349-375, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jcopol:v:42:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10603-019-09417-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10603-019-09417-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10603-019-09417-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10603-019-09417-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Posner, Eric A, 1995. "Contract Law in the Welfare State: A Defense of the Unconscionablility Doctrine, Usury Laws, and Related Limitations on the Freedom to Contract," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(2), pages 283-319, June.
    2. Peter D. Lunn, 2013. "Telecommunications Consumers: A Behavioral Economic Analysis," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 167-189, April.
    3. J. Malala, 2018. "Consumer Law and Policy in Kenya," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 41(4), pages 355-371, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fayyad, Mahmoud I. & Al-Nazir, Rannen, 2023. "Inequality of bargaining power in cellular telecommunication services agreements," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(4).

    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. repec:ces:ifodic:v:13:y:2016:i:4:p:19191579 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Griffin, Míde & Lyons, Sean & Mohan, Gretta & Joseph, Merin & Domhnaill, Ciarán Mac & Evans, John, 2022. "Intra-operator mobile plan switching: Evidence from linked survey and billing microdata," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(7).
    3. T. Naude, 2020. "Fragmentation Versus Convergence of Consumer Law Within One Legal System and Across Legal Systems: An African Perspective," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 11-33, March.
    4. Giuseppe Coco & David De Meza, 2009. "In Defense of Usury Laws," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(8), pages 1691-1703, December.
    5. Barsha Saha & Miguel Martínez-García & Sharad Nath Bhattacharya & Rohit Joshi, 2022. "Overcoming Choice Inertia through Social Interaction—An Agent-Based Study of Mobile Subscription Decision," Games, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-16, June.
    6. McGowan, Féidhlim, 2018. "The roaming regulation and the case for applying behavioural industrial organisation to EU competition policy," Papers WP598, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    7. Dnes, Antony W., 1999. "Applications of economic analysis to marital law: concerning a proposal to reform the discretionary approach to the division of marital assets in England and Wales," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 533-552, December.
    8. Christine Jolls, 2007. "Behavioral Law and Economics," NBER Working Papers 12879, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Michelle J. White, 2007. "Bankruptcy Reform and Credit Cards," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(4), pages 175-200, Fall.
    10. Peter Lunn, 2015. "Are Consumer Decision-Making Phenomena a Fourth Market Failure?," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 315-330, September.
    11. Xue, Lian & Sitzia, Stefania & Turocy, Theodore L., 2017. "Mathematics self-confidence and the “prepayment effect” in riskless choices," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 239-250.
    12. Jonathan D. Fisher, 2005. "The Effect Of Unemployment Benefits, Welfare Benefits, And Other Income On Personal Bankruptcy," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 23(4), pages 483-492, October.
    13. Uner, M.Mithat & Guven, Faruk & Cavusgil, S.Tamer, 2020. "Churn and loyalty behavior of Turkish digital natives: Empirical insights and managerial implications," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(4).
    14. Saad Azmat & Hira Ghaffar, 2021. "Ethical Commitments and Credit Market Regulations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 171(3), pages 421-433, July.
    15. Doris Neuberger & Udo Reifner, 2020. "Systemic Usury and the European Consumer Credit Directive," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 89(1), pages 115-132.
    16. Earl, Peter E. & Friesen, Lana & Shadforth, Christopher, 2019. "Elusive optima: A process tracing analysis of procedural rationality in mobile phone connection plan choices," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 303-322.
    17. Michelle J. White, 2007. "Bankruptcy Reform and Credit Cards," NBER Working Papers 13265, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Glaeser, Edward L & Scheinkman, Jose, 1998. "Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be: An Economic Analysis of Interest Restrictions and Usury Laws," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 1-36, April.
    19. Ryszard Kowalski & Grzegorz Wałęga, 2022. "Regulation of Usury: Justification, Consequences, and Some Lessons from Polish Experience," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 2, pages 57-73.
    20. Michelle J. White, 2016. "Economics of Personal Bankruptcy and Insolvency," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 13(04), pages 03-07, February.
    21. Carthy, Philip & Lunn, Pete & Lyons, Sean, 2018. "Demographic variation in active consumer behaviour: Who searches most for retail broadband services?," MPRA Paper 90366, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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:kap:jcopol:v:42:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10603-019-09417-0. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.