IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/indorg/v30y2012i6p697-707.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Market structure, regulation and the speed of mobile network penetration

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Yan
  • Lyons, Bruce

Abstract

The speed of market penetration (i.e. diffusion) is an important summary measure of how well the market works for potential consumers of a new product. This paper identifies the structural features associated with rapid diffusion of mobile telephony. We use a sample of thirty countries over the 16years in which average penetration rose from 2% to 97% of the population (earlier studies observed only the initial years of diffusion during which there was typically only one or two networks). We find that both the number of networks and the history of market structures matter for the speed of consumer uptake. The market structure effect does not appear to work exclusively through the level of prices. Digital technology, standardization, privatization and independent regulation are also important positive factors, and we identify the speed and dimensions of catch-up.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Yan & Lyons, Bruce, 2012. "Market structure, regulation and the speed of mobile network penetration," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 697-707.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:indorg:v:30:y:2012:i:6:p:697-707
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijindorg.2012.08.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167718712000926
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijindorg.2012.08.004?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. Gruber, Harald & Verboven, Frank, 2001. "The evolution of markets under entry and standards regulation -- the case of global mobile telecommunications," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(7), pages 1189-1212, July.
    2. Gutierrez, Luis Hernando, 2003. "The Effect of Endogenous Regulation on Telecommunications Expansion and Efficiency in Latin America," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 257-286, May.
    3. Liikanen, Jukka & Stoneman, Paul & Toivanen, Otto, 2004. "Intergenerational effects in the diffusion of new technology: the case of mobile phones," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 22(8-9), pages 1137-1154, November.
    4. Gutierrez, Luis H. & Berg, Sanford, 2000. "Telecommunications liberalization and regulatory governance: lessons from Latin America," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(10-11), pages 865-884, November.
    5. Fink, Carsten & Mattoo, Aaditya & Rathindran, Randeep, 2001. "Liberalizing basic telecommunications : the Asian experience," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2718, The World Bank.
    6. Grajek, Michal & Kretschmer, Tobias, 2009. "Usage and diffusion of cellular telephony, 1998-2004," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 238-249, March.
    7. Olivier Boylaud & Giuseppe Nicoletti, 2003. "Regulation, market structure and performance in telecommunications," OECD Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2001(1), pages 99-142.
    8. Levy, Brian & Spiller, Pablo T, 1994. "The Institutional Foundations of Regulatory Commitment: A Comparative Analysis of Telecommunications Regulation," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(2), pages 201-246, October.
    9. Chad Syverson, 2004. "Market Structure and Productivity: A Concrete Example," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(6), pages 1181-1222, December.
    10. Stern, Jon & Holder, Stuart, 1999. "Regulatory governance: criteria for assessing the performance of regulatory systems: An application to infrastructure industries in the developing countries of Asia," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 33-50, March.
    11. John Cubbin & Jon Stern, 2006. "The Impact of Regulatory Governance and Privatization on Electricity Industry Generation Capacity in Developing Economies," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 20(1), pages 115-141.
    12. Hahn, Jinyong & Ham, John C. & Moon, Hyungsik Roger, 2011. "The Hausman test and weak instruments," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 160(2), pages 289-299, February.
    13. Spiller, Pablo T, 1996. "Institutions and Commitment," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 5(2), pages 421-452.
    14. Mark Armstrong & David E.M. Sappington, 2006. "Regulation, Competition and Liberalization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 44(2), pages 325-366, June.
    15. Gual, Jordi & Trillas, Francesc, 2003. "Telecommunications policies: Determinants and impact," IESE Research Papers D/510, IESE Business School.
    16. Mark D. Manuszak & Charles C. Moul, 2008. "Prices And Endogenous Market Structure In Office Supply Superstores," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 94-112, March.
    17. Jerry A. Hausman, 1997. "Valuing the Effect of Regulation on New Services in Telecommunications," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 28(1997 Micr), pages 1-54.
    18. David Parker & Colin Kirkpatrick, 2005. "Privatisation in Developing Countries: A Review of the Evidence and the Policy Lessons," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(4), pages 513-541.
    19. Jeffry M. Netter & William L. Megginson, 2001. "From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 321-389, June.
    20. Geroski, P. A., 2000. "Models of technology diffusion," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 603-625, April.
    21. repec:reg:rpubli:448 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Li, Wei & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2004. "The Impact of Privatization and Competition in the Telecommunications Sector around the World," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(2), pages 395-430, October.
    23. Gruber, Harald & Verboven, Frank, 2001. "The diffusion of mobile telecommunications services in the European Union," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 577-588, March.
    24. Steven Berry & Joel Waldfogel, 2010. "Product Quality And Market Size," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 1-31, March.
    25. Bresnahan, Timothy F & Reiss, Peter C, 1991. "Entry and Competition in Concentrated Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(5), pages 977-1009, October.
    26. Gutierrez, Luis H., 2003. "Regulatory governance in the Latin American telecommunications sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 225-240, December.
    27. Scott Wallsten, 2004. "Privatizing Monopolies in Developing Countries: The Real Effects of Exclusivity Periods in Telecommunications," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 303-320, August.
    28. Maiorano, Federica & Stern, Jon, 2007. "Institutions and telecommunications infrastructure in low and middle-income countries: The case of mobile telephony," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 165-181, September.
    29. Jinyong Hahn & Jerry Hausman, 2003. "Weak Instruments: Diagnosis and Cures in Empirical Econometrics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(2), pages 118-125, May.
    30. Li, Wei & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2002. "The Political Economy of Privatization and Competition: Cross-Country Evidence from the Telecommunications Sector," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 439-462, September.
    31. Ros, Agustin J, 1999. "Does Ownership or Competition Matter? The Effects of Telecommunications Reform on Network Expansion and Efficiency," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 65-92, January.
    32. Ros Agustin J., 2003. "The Impact of the Regulatory Process and Price Cap Regulation in Latin American Telecommunications Markets," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 2(3), pages 1-17, September.
    33. Heli Koski & Tobias Kretschmer, 2004. "Entry, Standards and Competition: Firm Strategies and the Diffusion of Mobile Telephony," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 26(1), pages 89-113, November.
    34. Scott J. Wallsten, 2001. "An Econometric Analysis of Telecom Competition, Privatization, and Regulation in Africa and Latin America," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 1-19, March.
    35. Farid Gasmi & Paul Noumba Um & Laura Recuero Virto, 2009. "Political Accountability and Regulatory Performance in Infrastructure Industries: An Empirical Analysis," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 23(3), pages 509-531, October.
    36. Villalonga, Belen, 2000. "Privatization and efficiency: differentiating ownership effects from political, organizational, and dynamic effects," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 43-74, May.
    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. Christos Agiakloglou & Michael Polemis, 2018. "Evaluating the liberalization process on Telecommunications services for EU countries," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 7(3), pages 98-107.
    2. Christos Genakos & Tommaso Valletti & Frank Verboven, 2018. "Evaluating market consolidation in mobile communications," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 33(93), pages 45-100.
    3. Polemis, Michael & Tselekounis, Markos, 2019. "Does deregulation drive innovation intensity? Lessons learned from the OECD telecommunications sector," MPRA Paper 92770, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Mjellma Carabregu Vokshi But Dedaj Adel Ben Youssef Valentin Toçi, 2019. "Mobile phone penetration and its impact on inequality in the Western Balkan countries," Zagreb International Review of Economics and Business, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, vol. 22(2), pages 111-130, November.
    5. Leo Van Hove, 2016. "Measuring the value of mobile telecommunications networks," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 191-222, November.
    6. Csorba, Gergely & Pápai, Zoltán, 2013. "Does one more or one less mobile opertor affect prices? A comprehensive ex-post evaluation of entries and mergers in European mobile telecommunication markets," 24th European Regional ITS Conference, Florence 2013 88503, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    7. Christos Agiakloglou & Michael Polemis, 2018. "The Impact of Structural Reforms on Telecommunications Performance," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 209-222, June.
    8. Carlo Cambini & Laura Rondi, 2017. "Independent Agencies, Political Interference, And Firm Investment: Evidence From The European Union," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(1), pages 281-304, January.
    9. Thornton Matheson & Patrick Petit, 2021. "Taxing telecommunications in developing countries," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(1), pages 248-280, February.
    10. Halkos, George & Polemis, Michael, 2016. "Examining the impact of financial development on the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis," MPRA Paper 75368, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Miguel A. Fonseca & Yan Li & Hans‐Theo Normann, 2018. "Why factors facilitating collusion may not predict cartel occurrence — experimental evidence," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(1), pages 255-275, July.
    12. George E. Halkos & Michael L. Polemis, 2017. "Does Financial Development Affect Environmental Degradation? Evidence from the OECD Countries," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1162-1180, December.
    13. Arturo Basaure & Varadharajan Sridhar & Heikki Hämmäinen, 2016. "Adoption of dynamic spectrum access technologies: a system dynamics approach," Telecommunication Systems: Modelling, Analysis, Design and Management, Springer, vol. 63(2), pages 169-190, October.

    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. Yan Li & Bruce Lyons, 2012. "Market Structure, Regulation and the Speed of Mobile Network Penetration," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) 2012-03, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    2. Yan Li & Bruce Lyons, 2011. "Three Private Firms and an Independent Regulator are Sufficient for Rapid Mobile Network Penetration," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) 2011-01, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    3. Antonio Estache & Liam Wren-Lewis, 2009. "Toward a Theory of Regulation for Developing Countries: Following Jean-Jacques Laffont's Lead," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 729-770, September.
    4. Yan Li, 2008. "Econometric Evidence on the Impacts of Privatization, New Entry, and Independent Industry Regulator on Mobile Network Penetration and Expansion," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) 2008-35, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    5. Yan Li & Catherine Waddams Price, 2012. "Effect of Regulatory Reform on the Efficiency of Mobile Telecommunications," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) 2012-01, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    6. Li, Yan, 2011. "The competitive landscape of China’s telecommunications industry: Is there a need for further regulatory reform?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 125-133.
    7. Yin-Fang Zhang & David Parker & Colin Kirkpatrick, 2008. "Electricity sector reform in developing countries: an econometric assessment of the effects of privatization, competition and regulation," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 159-178, April.
    8. EZZAT Riham Ahmed, 2015. "Paving the Way for Better Telecom Performance: Evidence from the Telecommunication Sector in MENA Countries," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 14(3), pages 157-199, September.
    9. Jayakar, Krishna & Martin, Brandie, 2012. "Regulatory governance in African telecommunications: Testing the resource curse hypothesis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 691-703.
    10. Calzada, Joan & Diaz-Serrano, Luis, 2023. "Conflicting national policies: The creation of the euro and the rebalancing of telecommunications prices," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1).
    11. Gutierrez, Luis H., 2003. "Regulatory governance in the Latin American telecommunications sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 225-240, December.
    12. Riham Ahmed Ezzat, 2015. "Paving the way for better telecom performance: Evidence from the telecommunication sector in MENA countries," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-01164199, HAL.
    13. Riham Ahmed Ezzat, 2015. "Paving the way for better telecom performance: Evidence from the telecommunication sector in MENA countries," Post-Print halshs-01164199, HAL.
    14. Gasmi, Farid & Recuero Virto, Laura, 2010. "The determinants and impact of telecommunications reforms in developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 275-286, November.
    15. Zhang, Yinfang & Parker, David & Kirkpatrick, Colin, 2005. "Competition, regulation and privatisation of electricity generation in developing countries: does the sequencing of the reforms matter?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 358-379, May.
    16. Gasmi, F. & Maingard, A. & Noumba, P. & Recuero Virto, L., 2013. "The Privatization of the Fixed-Line Telecommunications Operator in OECD, Latin America, Asia, and Africa: One Size Does Not Fit All," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 189-208.
    17. Estache, Antonio & Goicoechea, Ana & Trujillo, Lourdes, 2009. "Utilities reforms and corruption in developing countries," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 191-202, June.
    18. Yin-Fang Zhang & David Parker & Colin Kirkpatrick, 2005. "Assessing the Effects of Privatisation, Competition and Regulation on Economic Performance : The Case of Electricity Sector Reform," Development Economics Working Papers 22589, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    19. 'Ofa, Siope Vakataki, 2009. "The WTO's telecommunications commitments and the credibility of telecommunications regulatory reforms in small island developing states," MPRA Paper 66184, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Işık D. Özel & Aslı Unan, 2021. "Decoupling trends: Drivers of agency independence in telecommunications: An analysis of high and middle‐income countries," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 32-62, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Competition; Market structure; Privatization; Independent regulator; Mobile network; Diffusion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications

    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:eee:indorg:v:30:y:2012:i:6:p:697-707. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505551 .

    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.