Competition and Regulation in the Postal and Delivery Sector (Advances in Regulatory Economics)

COVER......Page 2
COPYRIGHT......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
List of contributors......Page 8
List of sponsors......Page 11
Preface and acknowledgments......Page 12
PART I Universal Service Obligation......Page 14
1. Regulation and the USO under entry......Page 16
2. Social costs and benefits of the universal service obligation in the postal market......Page 36
3. The distribution of post offices in Italy and the United States......Page 49
4. Accessibility of the postal retail network, social cohesion and economic development......Page 60
PART II Demand......Page 74
5. Forecast uncertainty in dynamic models: an application to the demand for mail......Page 76
6. The impact of economic and demographic dispersion on aggregate mail volumes......Page 87
7. Substitution of letter mail for different sender–receiver segments......Page 102
8. Empirical analysis of service quality in Japan’s small package market......Page 120
PART III Pricing under Entry......Page 136
9. Access, bypass and productivity gains in competitive postal markets......Page 138
10. Pricing in competitive two-sided mail markets......Page 149
11. Pricing, welfare and organisational constraints for postal operators......Page 163
12. National postal strategies after a full postal market opening......Page 180
PART IV Regulation......Page 200
13. Postcodes in competitive postal markets: is there a case for regulation?......Page 202
14. Negotiated volume discounts in a regulated post......Page 212
15. Development of competition in EU postal markets: the influence of the regulatory framework on the pattern of competition......Page 229
16. An incentive regime for quality of service of universal service providers in the postal sector......Page 245
PART V Postal Reform......Page 260
17. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act: some consequences......Page 262
18. The proper scope of the rules on abuse of dominant position in a liberalized postal services market......Page 276
19. Licensing regimes in the postal sector: the impact of the recent EC proposal for a third Postal Directive......Page 295
20. Waiting for ‘Rowland Hill’ – elements of reform of postal services in Sub-Saharan Africa......Page 308
PART VI Accounting and Cost......Page 326
21. Are there economies of scale in mail processing? Getting the answers from a large-but-dirty sample......Page 328
22. The accounting implications of the EU’s Third Postal Directive......Page 351
23. Tradeoffs in product costing: the statistical impact of cost pool formation decisions......Page 365
24. Data requirements for cost accounting in the mail communication system......Page 383
Index......Page 398