IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/uwa/wpaper/14-18.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Service Oligopolies and Australia’s Economy-Wide Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Rod Tyers

    (Business School, University of Western Australia)

Abstract

The retreat from public ownership of service firms and industries has left behind numerous private monopolies and oligopolies supervised by regulatory agencies. Services industries in government and private ownership generate two-thirds of Australia’s value added, while the newly privatised ones, utilities, telecommunications, finance and transport, supply a fifth. This study offers an economy-wide approach that represents monopoly and oligopoly behaviour explicitly. It examines the implications of oligopoly rents for factor markets and the real exchange rate, the extent of sectoral interactions and the potential economy wide gains from tighter price cap regulation. The results confirm that the level of non-linear interaction between oligopoly sectors justifies an economy-wide approach. Moreover, pricing surveillance and price cap regulation are shown to play very significant roles in sustaining economic efficiency, helping avoid costs from oligopoly distortions that, in the absence of regulation, could amount to a third of Australia’s GDP.

Suggested Citation

  • Rod Tyers, 2014. "Service Oligopolies and Australia’s Economy-Wide Performance," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 14-18, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:uwa:wpaper:14-18
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ecompapers.biz.uwa.edu.au/paper/PDF%20of%20Discussion%20Papers/2014/14-18%20Service%20Oligopolies%20and%20Australia%E2%80%99s%20Economy-Wide%20Performance.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nepal, Rabindra & Menezes, Flavio & Jamasb, Tooraj, 2014. "Network regulation and regulatory institutional reform: Revisiting the case of Australia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 259-268.
    2. Haney, Aoife Brophy & Pollitt, Michael G., 2011. "Exploring the determinants of “best practice” benchmarking in electricity network regulation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7739-7746.
    3. Balistreri, Edward J. & Hillberry, Russell H. & Rutherford, Thomas F., 2011. "Structural estimation and solution of international trade models with heterogeneous firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 95-108, March.
    4. James R. Markusen, 2004. "Multinational Firms and the Theory of International Trade," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262633078, December.
    5. David Newbery, 2004. "Privatising Network Industries," CESifo Working Paper Series 1132, CESifo.
    6. Vahagn Galstyan & Philip R. Lane, 2009. "The Composition of Government Spending and the Real Exchange Rate," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(6), pages 1233-1249, September.
    7. Tina Kao & Flavio Menezes & John Quiggin, 2014. "Optimal access regulation with downstream competition," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 75-93, February.
    8. Olivier Blanchard & Francesco Giavazzi, 2003. "Macroeconomic Effects of Regulation and Deregulation in Goods and Labor Markets," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(3), pages 879-907.
    9. George J. Stigler, 1971. "The Theory of Economic Regulation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 2(1), pages 3-21, Spring.
    10. Dowrick, Steve, 1993. "Enterprise Bargaining, Union Structure and Wages," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 69(207), pages 393-404, December.
    11. Harris, Richard, 1984. "Applied General Equilibrium Analysis of Small Open Economies with Scale Economies and Imperfect Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(5), pages 1016-1032, December.
    12. Gary Madden & Harry Bloch & Grant Coble-Neal, 2002. "Labour and capital saving technical change in telecommunications," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(14), pages 1821-1828.
    13. Mumford, Karen & Dowrick, Steve, 1994. "Wage Bargaining with Endogenous Profits, Overtime Working and Heterogeneous Labor," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(2), pages 329-336, May.
    14. Don, H. & Gunasekera, B. H. & Tyers, Rod, 1990. "Imperfect competition and returns to scale in a newly industrialising economy : A general equilibrium analysis of Korean trade policy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-2), pages 223-247, November.
    15. Ricardo J Caballero & Guido Lorenzoni, 2014. "Persistent Appreciations and Overshooting: A Normative Analysis," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 62(1), pages 1-47, April.
    16. Balistreri, Edward J. & Markusen, James R., 2009. "Sub-national differentiation and the role of the firm in optimal international pricing," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 47-62, January.
    17. Froot, Kenneth A. & Rogoff, Kenneth, 1995. "Perspectives on PPP and long-run real exchange rates," Handbook of International Economics, in: G. M. Grossman & K. Rogoff (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 32, pages 1647-1688, Elsevier.
    18. Flavio Menezes & Joisa Dutra & Xuemei Zheng, 2013. "Energy Efficiency and Price Regulation," Discussion Papers Series 495, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    19. John C. Beghin & David Roland-Holst & Dominique van der Mensbrugghe, 2002. "Global Agricultural Trade and the Doha Round: What are the Implications for North and South?," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 02-wp308, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    20. Flavio M. Menezes, 2009. "Consistent Regulation of Infrastructure Businesses: Some Economic Issues," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 28(1), pages 2-10, March.
    21. Cabral, Luis M B & Riordan, Michael H, 1989. "Incentives for Cost Reduction under Price Cap Regulation," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 93-102, June.
    22. G. M. Grossman & K. Rogoff (ed.), 1995. "Handbook of International Economics," Handbook of International Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 3, number 3.
    23. Robert Breunig & Flavio M. Menezes, 2012. "Testing Regulatory Consistency," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 30(1), pages 60-74, January.
    24. Leon Courville, 1974. "Regulation and Efficiency in the Electric Utility Industry," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 5(1), pages 53-74, Spring.
    25. Corden, W Max & Neary, J Peter, 1982. "Booming Sector and De-Industrialisation in a Small Open Economy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 92(368), pages 825-848, December.
    26. Anonymous, 1962. "International Monetary Fund," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(3), pages 619-631, July.
    27. Hertel, Thomas W., 1994. "The 'procompetitive' effects of trade policy reform in a small, open economy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(3-4), pages 391-411, May.
    28. Harry Bloch & A. Michael Dockery & David Sapsford, 2006. "Commodity Prices and the Dynamics of Inflation in Commodity‐Exporting Nations: Evidence from Australia and Canada," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 82(s1), pages 97-109, September.
    29. Anonymous, 1962. "International Monetary Fund," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 230-231, January.
    30. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    31. Brennan, Timothy J, 1989. "Regulating by Capping Prices," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 133-147, June.
    32. Fernando T. Camacho & Flavio M. Menezes, 2013. "The Impact of Price Regulation on the Cost of Capital," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 84(2), pages 139-158, June.
    33. James Markusen & Frank Stähler, 2011. "Endogenous market structure and foreign market entry," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 147(2), pages 195-215, June.
    34. Xavier, Patrick, 1995. "Price cap regulation for telecommunications: How has it performed in practice?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(8), pages 599-617, November.
    35. 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.
    36. Anonymous, 1962. "International Monetary Fund," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(4), pages 876-878, October.
    37. N. Gregory Mankiw & Michael D. Whinston, 1986. "Free Entry and Social Inefficiency," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 17(1), pages 48-58, Spring.
    38. Harry Bloch & A. Michael Dockery & C. Wyn Morgan & David Sapsford, 2007. "Growth, Commodity Prices, Inflation And The Distribution Of Income," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 3-44, February.
    39. Philippa Dee, 2013. "Modelling the Policy Issues in Services Trade," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Services Trade Reform Making Sense of It, chapter 3, pages 47-66, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    40. Rod Tyers, 2005. "Trade Reform and Manufacturing Pricing Behavior in Four Archetype Asia‐Pacific Economies," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 19(2), pages 181-203, June.
    41. Robert Breunig & Jeremy Hornby & Scott Stacey & Flavio Menezes, 2006. "Price Regulation in Australia: How Consistent Has It Been?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 82(256), pages 67-76, March.
    42. Elena Ianchovichina & James Binkley & Thomas Hertel, 2000. "Procompetitive Effects of Foreign Competition on Domestic Markups," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(1), pages 134-148, February.
    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. Ping-Kun HSU, 2009. "Service Oligopolies and Economy-wide Performance in Taiwan: A CGE Analysis," EcoMod2009 21500040, EcoMod.
    2. Rod Tyers, 2014. "Asymmetry in Boom-Bust Shocks: Australian Performance with Oligopoly," CAMA Working Papers 2014-50, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    3. Shehabi, Manal, 2022. "Modeling long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and oil price declines on Gulf oil economies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    4. Shehabi, Manal, 2020. "Diversification effects of energy subsidy reform in oil exporters: Illustrations from Kuwait," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    5. Steven Pennings & Rod Tyers, 2008. "Increasing Returns, Financial Capital Mobility and Real Exchange Rate Dynamics," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 84(s1), pages 141-158, September.
    6. Rod Tyers & Jenny Corbett, 2012. "Japan's economic slowdown and its global implications: a review of the economic modelling," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 26(2), pages 1-28, November.
    7. Tyers, Rod, 2014. "Looking inward for transformative growth," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 166-184.
    8. Asano, Akihito & Tyers, Rod, 2019. "Japan's oligopolies: Potential economy wide gains from structural reforms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 361-375.

    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. Akihito Asano & Rod Tyers, 2016. "Japan's oligopolies: potential gains from third arrow reforms," CAMA Working Papers 2016-03, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    2. Tyers, Rod, 2014. "Looking inward for transformative growth," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 166-184.
    3. Rod Tyers & Ying Zhang, 2014. "Short Run Effects of The Economic Reform Agenda," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 14-16, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    4. Asano, Akihito & Tyers, Rod, 2019. "Japan's oligopolies: Potential economy wide gains from structural reforms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 361-375.
    5. Rod Tyers, 2014. "Asymmetry in Boom-Bust Shocks: Australian Performance with Oligopoly," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 14-23, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    6. Rod Tyers, 2014. "Analysing the Short Run Effects of China’s Economic Reform Agenda," CAMA Working Papers 2014-29, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    7. Rod Tyers & Ling Huang, 2009. "Combating China’s Export Contraction: Fiscal Expansion or Accelerated Industrial Reform?," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 09-15, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    8. Rod Tyers, 2012. "Looking Inward for Transformative Growth in China," CAMA Working Papers 2012-15, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    9. Asano, Akihito & Tyers, Rod, 2015. "Third Arrow Reforms and Japan’s Economic Performance," Conference papers 332617, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    10. Rod Tyers, 2008. "Competition Policy, Corporate Saving and China's Current Account Surplus," ANU Working Papers in Economics and Econometrics 2008-496, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics.
    11. Shehabi, Manal, 2020. "Diversification effects of energy subsidy reform in oil exporters: Illustrations from Kuwait," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    12. Rod Tyers, 2012. "Looking Inward for Growth," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 12-04, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    13. Prayudhi Azwar & Rod Tyers, 2015. "Indonesian Macro Policy through Two Crises," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 15-16, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    14. Christoph Boehringer & Edward Balistreri & Thomas Rutherford, 2018. "Quantifying Disruptive Trade Policies," Working Papers V-415-18, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Nov 2018.
    15. Shehabi, Manal, 2022. "Modeling long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and oil price declines on Gulf oil economies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    16. Francis E. Warnock, 1998. "Idiosyncratic tastes in a two-country optimizing model: implications ; of a standard presumption," International Finance Discussion Papers 631, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    17. Warnock, Francis E., 2003. "Exchange rate dynamics and the welfare effects of monetary policy in a two-country model with home-product bias," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 343-363, June.
    18. Maurice Obstfeld, 1995. "Intenational Currency Experience: New Lessons and Lessons Relearned," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 26(1, 25th A), pages 119-220.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C68 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computable General Equilibrium Models
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • D58 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Computable and Other Applied General Equilibrium Models
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L43 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Legal Monopolies and Regulation or Deregulation
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L80 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - General

    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:uwa:wpaper:14-18. 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: Sam Tang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deuwaau.html .

    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.