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On Delegating Price Authority to a Regulated Firm

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  • Michael H. Riordan

Abstract

This article models a regulatory environment in which the regulated firm possesses better information about demand conditions than does the regulator. The regulator would like to tie prices to the firm's private information in a socially optimal way. To do so, the regulator must induce the firm either truthfully to reveal private information or, equivalently, unilaterally to set socially optimal prices. This is accomplished by assessing lump-sum subsidies or taxes that depend in an appropriate way on the prices announced by the firm. This mechanism can be reinterpreted as a two-part tariff scheme whereby both the service fee and price per unit respond to shifting demand conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael H. Riordan, 1984. "On Delegating Price Authority to a Regulated Firm," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(1), pages 108-115, Spring.
    • Handle: RePEc:rje:randje:v:15:y:1984:i:spring:p:108-115
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Willington, Manuel & Li Ning, Jorge, 2014. "Regulating a monopoly with universal service obligations: The role of flexible tariff schemes," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 32-48.
    3. Iñaki Aguirre & Arantza Beitia, 2004. "Regulating a Monopolist with Unknown Demand: Costly Public Funds and the Value of Private Information," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 6(5), pages 693-706, December.
    4. Tracy R. Lewis & David E.M. Sappington, 1988. "Regulating a Monopolist with Unknown Demand and Cost Functions," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(3), pages 438-457, Autumn.
    5. Ismail Saglam, 2024. "The Bayesian approach to monopoly regulation after 40 years," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 65(1), pages 108-136, June.
    6. Muhammad Lawal Ahmad Bashar, 1997. "Price Control in an Islamic Economy التسعير في اقتصاد إسلامي," Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Islamic Economics, King Abdulaziz University, Islamic Economics Institute., vol. 9(1), pages 29-52, January.
    7. Salvador Bertomeu, 2019. "On the effects of the financialization of private utilities: lessons from the UK water sector," Working Papers ECARES 2019-29, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Gregory S. Crawford, 2015. "The economics of television and online video markets," ECON - Working Papers 197, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    9. Crawford, Gregory, 2015. "The Economics of Television and Online Video Markets," CEPR Discussion Papers 10676, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Grafton, R. Quentin & Chu, Long & Kompas, Tom, 2015. "Optimal water tariffs and supply augmentation for cost-of-service regulated water utilities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 54-62.
    11. 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.
    12. Cowan, Simon, 2004. "Optimal risk allocation for regulated monopolies and consumers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1-2), pages 285-303, January.
    13. Dan Wang & Peng Hao & Jiancheng Wang, 2023. "Quantities vs. prices: monopoly regulation without transfer under asymmetric demand information," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 177-205, June.

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