IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jincot/v6y2006i1p27-43.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Monopoly Prices versus Ramsey-Boiteux Prices: Are they “Similar”, and: Does it Matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Felix Höffler

Abstract

Ramsey-Boiteux prices and monopoly prices are frequently regarded as being similar. This might suggest that sometimes monopoly pricing is close to the Ramsey-Boiteux second best and welfare superior to imperfectly regulated prices. This paper tries to specify what is meant by “being similar”. Both sets of prices are similar in a theoretical sense but differ not only with respect to price levels but can even lead to different price orders. The paper discusses the impact of competition and stresses the difference between market and residual demand, which are important for the Ramsey-Boiteux and the monopoly problem, respectively. Copyright Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2006

Suggested Citation

  • Felix Höffler, 2006. "Monopoly Prices versus Ramsey-Boiteux Prices: Are they “Similar”, and: Does it Matter?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 27-43, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jincot:v:6:y:2006:i:1:p:27-43
    DOI: 10.1007/s10842-005-5648-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10842-005-5648-y
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10842-005-5648-y?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. Hartman, Raymond S & Naqvi, Zareen F, 1994. "Estimation of Household Preferences for Long Distance Telecommunications Carrier," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 197-220, May.
    2. Prieger, James E, 1996. "Ramsey Pricing and Competition: The Consequences of Myopic Regulation," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 10(3), pages 307-321, November.
    3. Armstrong, Mark & Doyle, Chris & Vickers, John, 1996. "The Access Pricing Problem: A Synthesis," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 131-150, June.
    4. Armstrong, Mark, 2001. "The theory of access pricing and interconnection," MPRA Paper 15608, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Jean Tirole, 1988. "The Theory of Industrial Organization," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262200716, December.
    6. Simon G. B. Cowan, 1997. "Tight Average Revenue Regulation Can Be Worse Than No Regulation," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 75-88, March.
    7. Braeutigam, Ronald R., 1989. "Optimal policies for natural monopolies," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 23, pages 1289-1346, Elsevier.
    8. Kruse, Joern, 2003. "Regulierung der Terminierungsentgelte der deutschen Mobilfunknetze?," Working Paper 1/2003, Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg.
    9. Braeutigam, Ronald R, 1979. "Optimal Pricing with Intermodal Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(1), pages 38-49, March.
    10. Ingo Vogelsang & Jorg Finsinger, 1979. "A Regulatory Adjustment Process for Optimal Pricing by Multiproduct Monopoly Firms," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 157-171, Spring.
    11. Kruse, Jörn, 2003. "Regulierung der Terminierungsentgelte der deutschen Mobilfunknetze?," Wirtschaftsdienst – Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik (1949 - 2007), ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 83(3), pages 203-208.
    12. Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael L. Katz, 2004. "Sender or Receiver: Who Should Pay to Exchange an Electronic Message?," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 35(3), pages 423-447, Autumn.
    13. Bradley, Ian & Price, Catherine, 1991. "Average revenue regulation and regional price structure," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 89-108, May.
    14. Bradley, Ian & Price, Catherine, 1988. "The Economic Regulation of Private Industries by Price Constraints," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 99-106, September.
    15. Gans, Joshua S. & King, Stephen P., 2001. "Using 'bill and keep' interconnect arrangements to soften network competition," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 413-420, June.
    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. Ebenezer Tetteh, 2009. "Implementing differential pricing for essential medicines via country-specific bilateral negotiated discounts," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 71-89, June.
    2. Thijs ten Raa, 2009. "Monopoly, Pareto and Ramsey Mark-ups," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 57-63, March.
    3. William C. Miller, 2007. "Ramsey pricing with long run competition," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 12(34), pages 1-5.
    4. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:12:y:2007:i:34:p:1-5 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Martin Hellwig, 2008. "Competition Policy and Sector-Specific Regulation for Network Industries," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2008_29, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.

    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. Armstrong, Mark & Sappington, David E.M., 2007. "Recent Developments in the Theory of Regulation," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: Mark Armstrong & Robert Porter (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 27, pages 1557-1700, Elsevier.
    2. Kotakorpi, Kaisa, 2002. "Access Pricing and Competition in Telecommunications," Discussion Papers 283, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Holguin-Veras, Jose & Jara-Diaz, Sergio, 1998. "Optimal pricing for priority service and space allocation in container ports," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 81-106, April.
    4. Hoernig, Steffen, 2014. "Competition between multiple asymmetric networks: Theory and applications," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 57-69.
    5. Andersson, Tommy, 2004. "Essays on Nonlinear Pricing and Welfare," MPRA Paper 59446, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Seeto, Dewey Q. & Woo, C. K. & Horowitz, Ira, 2001. "Finessing the unintended outcomes of price-cap adjustments: an electric utility multi-product perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(13), pages 1111-1118, November.
    7. Joan Calzada & Francesc Trillas, 2005. "The interconnection prices in telecomunications: from theory to practice," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 173(2), pages 85-125, June.
    8. Carlo Cambini & Tommaso M. Valletti, 2008. "Information Exchange And Competition In Communications Networks," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 707-728, December.
    9. Barth, Anne-Kathrin & Heimeshoff, Ulrich, 2012. "Der angemessene Kostenmaßstab für Terminierungsentgelte - "Pure LRIC" vs. "KeL"," DICE Ordnungspolitische Perspektiven 29, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    10. Sjaak Hurkens & Ángel Luis López, 2010. "Mobile Termination and Consumer Expectations under the Receiver-Pays Regime," Working Papers 10-12, NET Institute.
    11. Ingo Vogelsang, 2003. "Price Regulation of Access to Telecommunications Networks," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 41(3), pages 830-862, September.
    12. Alberto Iozzi & Marco Fioramanti, 2004. "Strategic Choice of the Price Structure and Entry Deterrence Under Price Cap Regulation," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 333-352, October.
    13. Edmond Baranes & Laurent Flochel, 2008. "Competition in telecommunication networks with call externalities," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 53-74, August.
    14. E. Villemeur & Helmuth Cremer & Bernard Roy & Joëlle Toledano, 2007. "Worksharing, access and bypass: the structure of prices in the postal sector," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 67-85, August.
    15. Riechmann, Christoph, 2000. "Strategic pricing of grid access under partial price-caps -- electricity distribution in England and Wales," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 187-207, April.
    16. Harbord, David & Hoernig, Steffen, 2010. "Welfare Analysis of Regulating Mobile Termination Rates in the UK (with an Application to the Orange/T-Mobile Merger)," MPRA Paper 21515, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Ángel L. López & Patrick Rey, 2009. "Foreclosing Competition through Access Charges and Price Discrimination," Working Papers 2009.99, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    18. Inderst, Roman & Peitz, Martin, 2011. "Netzzugang, Wettbewerb und Investitionen," ZEW Discussion Papers 11-025, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    19. Vogelsang, Ingo, 2000. "Regulation of Access to the Telecommunications Network of New Zealand: A Review of the Literature," Working Paper Series 3931, Victoria University of Wellington, The New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation.
    20. Graeme Guthrie, 2006. "Regulating Infrastructure: The Impact on Risk and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 44(4), pages 925-972, December.

    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:jincot:v:6:y:2006:i:1:p:27-43. 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://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.