IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-12-00045.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimal pricing of postal services under endogenously determined entry

Author

Listed:
  • Kevin M. Currier

    (Oklahoma State University)

Abstract

Postal reform (liberalization) is occurring rapidly around the world, perhaps most notably in the EU where January 1, 2011 was the date of Full Market Opening (FMO). As a strategy for maintaining the Universal Service Obligation (USO) under FMO, several authors suggest that the sale of access to competitive entrants may provide the universal service provider with significant opportunities to enhance revenues. In a single postal product context, Crew and Kleindorfer (2011) provide conditions under which competitive entry via access is welfare superior to entry via bypass (the Theorem on the Superiority of Access). In this paper, we show that in the single product context, the Laspeyres price cap-based regulatory adjustment process of Vogelsang and Finsinger (1979) may be adapted to determine optimal access-inducing prices, thereby fulfilling the USO efficiently. We also discuss a number of potential problems associated with extending the Theorem on the Superiority of Access and the Vogelsang-Finsinger price capping procedure to a multiproduct context.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin M. Currier, 2012. "Optimal pricing of postal services under endogenously determined entry," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(4), pages 3503-3511.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-12-00045
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2012/Volume32/EB-12-V32-I4-P337.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bloch Francis & Gautier Axel, 2008. "Access Pricing and Entry in the Postal Sector," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 1-24, June.
    2. Brennan, Timothy J, 1989. "Regulating by Capping Prices," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 133-147, June.
    3. 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.
    4. David Sappington & Dennis Weisman, 2010. "Price cap regulation: what have we learned from 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry?," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 227-257, December.
    5. Michael A. Crew & Paul R. Kleindorfer, 2006. "The Welfare Effects of Entry and Strategies for Maintaining the USO in the Postal Sector," Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy, in: Michael A. Crew & Paul R. Kleindorfer (ed.), Progress toward Liberalization of the Postal and Delivery Sector, chapter 0, pages 3-22, Springer.
    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. Valentini, Edilio, 2015. "Indirect taxation, public pricing and price cap regulation: A synthesis," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 9, pages 1-39.
    2. repec:kap:iaecre:v:17:y:2011:i:4:p:465-475 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Dennis L. Weisman, 2019. "The power of regulatory regimes reexamined," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 125-148, December.
    4. Gianni De Fraja & Alberto Iozzi, 2008. "The Quest for Quality: A Quality Adjusted Dynamic Regulatory Mechanism," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(4), pages 1011-1040, December.
    5. Gianni De Fraja & Alberto Iozzi, "undated". "Short Term and Long Term Effects of Price Cap Regulation," Discussion Papers 00/61, Department of Economics, University of York.
    6. Pu‐yan Nie & Hong‐xing Wen & Chan Wang, 2023. "Price cap regulation under duopoly," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(3), pages 1376-1382, April.
    7. Jörg Borrmann, 2003. "A Simple Characterization of the Second‐best Two‐part and Block‐rate Tariffs Theory and Applications," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(2), pages 205-228, June.
    8. Paula Sarmento & António Brandão, 2007. "Entry Deterrence and Entry Accommodation Strategies of a Multiproduct Firm Regulated with Dynamic Price Cap," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 13(1), pages 19-34, February.
    9. Campbell, Alrick, 2018. "Cap prices or cap revenues? The dilemma of electric utility networks," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 802-812.
    10. Paul L. Joskow, 2014. "Incentive Regulation in Theory and Practice: Electricity Distribution and Transmission Networks," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Regulation and Its Reform: What Have We Learned?, pages 291-344, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Kevin Currier, 2009. "Price cap regulation of a dominant firm facing competition," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 98(3), pages 221-233, December.
    12. Kevin Currier, 2005. "Strategic Firm Behavior Under Average-Revenue-Lagged Regulation," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 67-79, September.
    13. Dennis L. Weisman, 2023. "Measuring the Power of Regulatory Regimes," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 62(1), pages 19-32, February.
    14. Sumit K. Majumdar, 2010. "Incentive Compatible Mechanism Design And Firm Growth: Experiences From Telecommunications Sector Regulation," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 81(3), pages 357-387, September.
    15. Alberto Iozzi, 2001. "Strategic pricing and entry deterrence under price-cap regulation," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 74(3), pages 283-300, October.
    16. repec:kap:iaecre:v:13:y:2007:i:1:p:19-34 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Valentini, Edilio, 2006. "Uncovering regulator's (implicit) social welfare weights under price cap regulation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 1-5, January.
    18. Timothy J. Brennan, 2009. "The Challenges of Climate for Energy Markets," UMBC Economics Department Working Papers 09-111, UMBC Department of Economics, revised 01 Sep 2009.
    19. 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.
    20. Kevin M. Currier, 2007. "Quality‐Corrected Price Caps," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 255-268, July.
    21. Angela S. Bergantino & Etienne Billette De Villemeur & Annalisa Vinella, 2011. "Partial Regulation in Vertically Differentiated Industries," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 13(2), pages 255-287, April.
    22. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:12:y:2008:i:8:p:1-7 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Kevin Currier, 2006. "Quality-Adjusted Laspeyres Price Caps: A Graphical Analysis," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 34(4), pages 481-490, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Postal liberalization; access; bypass; universal service obligation; price cap;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L5 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy
    • L8 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services

    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:ebl:ecbull:eb-12-00045. 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: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.