'To learn about how economic and institutional forces have shaped the network industries and policies towards them, read the first part of the book. To discover their impacts on particular industries, read the second part. And to find out what has happened in particular countries, read the third part. I think anyone interested in network industries should read all of it! The book's structure allows for many interesting comparisons across countries and sectors.' Richard Green, University of Birmingham, UK 'This is a very useful and comprehensive guide to reforms in network industries in communications, energy, transport and water. It is organized by generic topic, sector and region. Its authors are acknowledged experts. I am confident that this Handbook will be a widely read and valuable resource for many years.' Martin Cave, London School of Economics, UK 'Quite an accomplishment, this Handbook provides by far the most comprehensive overview of the role of the private sector and competition in infrastructure industries, with thoughtful surveys of each of the major infrastructure sectors and of the key regions and countries.' José Gómez-Ibáñez, Harvard University, US In recent decades, all infrastructures have undergone significant restructuring. This worldwide phenomenon is often labelled 'liberalization' and although expectations were high with respect to lower prices, greater efficiency and innovation, the expected gains have not always been fully realized. This extensive, state-of-the-art Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the various experiences of liberalization across different sectors, regions and disciplines. The multidisciplinary approach focuses on the economic, political and institutional aspects of liberalization as well as, to a lesser extent, on technological issues. As such, it constitutes a unique contribution, as this broad overview is often lost in the sector specific, country-focused and purely disciplinary approaches prevalent in the current literature. Sectors explored include telecoms, the Internet, energy and transport, whilst the truly global perspective incorporates unique case studies from an array of developed and developing countries including the US, China, India and the EU. The International Handbook of Network Industries will become the definitive volume for academics researchers and students of economics, political science and law interested in infrastructure regulation. It will also prove a valuable guide to practitioners and policy-makers involved in liberalization and competition.

Network industries such as electricity, gas, rail, local public transport, telecommunications and postal services are recognised by the EU as crucial for fostering European social and territorial cohesion. Providing an overview of key policy reforms in these industries and an empirical evaluation, this thought-provoking book offers a critical perspective on the functioning of the networks that provide vital services to EU citizens.

This book explores the wave of liberalization reforms experienced by OECD network industries. Focusing on the telecommunications sector, the authors analyze the latest data available on liberalization and privatization, and following a political economics approach, they integrate standard economic analysis with the most recent studies of the political determinants of market-oriented policies. The book presents new econometric evidence on several policy issues, including institutional complementarities dynamics, the problem of policy sequencing and the role of government political ideology. The detailed and comprehensive discussion offers insights into how so many countries adopting similar reforms actually differ in their policy “bundling”, intensity and implementation of liberalization and privatization.

The promotion of competition in Europe's network industries has been in the foreground of economic policy in recent years. Network industries have undergone dramatic changes, involving privatisation, liberalisation and de- as well as re-regulation. But there are still many unresolved problems in both economic policy as well as economic research. Hence, a vivid exchange between academics and policy makers has emerged to find the optimal framework for these industries. This volume contributes to this discussion, containing several papers on various network industries.

This article reports mixed results about the impacts of liberalisation in European network industries. Telecommunications prices have fallen and converged across EU-15, but electricity and gas prices have either increased or diverged. Productivity has increased, but mainly as a result of falling employment in absolute and relative terms. Liberalised industries are still characterised by high levels of market concentration and low levels of transparency and market integration. These findings are in line with the predictions of the theory of second best and suggest that the case for liberalisation of network industries has been oversold.

Over the last decade, the European Union has undertaken major market-opening reforms in the area of network industries. The liberalization process has now been completed in the air transport and electronic communications sectors and has achieved considerable progress in other network industries, such as postal services, energy (electricity and gas), and rail transport. Creating competition in network industries is not an easy matter, however. Because they benefit from certain advantages such as a large initial market share and control of essential facilities, incumbents typically retain substantial market power in a number of relevant markets and may even use their position to prevent others from engineering such markets. Controlling market power is thus one of a number of key concerns in network industries. It can be achieved in two main ways; either through the adoption and implementation of sector-specific rules or through the application of competition rules. There are advantages and disadvantages to both options, but it is a combination of the two that generally prevents incumbents from abusing their market power in liberalized markets. Competition law and sector-specific regulation provide for the application of remedies on incumbents or other operators holding significant market power. Such remedies are either structural or a behavioural. In some occasions they will apply ex ante, while in others ex post. This book comprises a collection of outstanding essays dealing with the complex legal and economic issues raised by remedies in network industries. While some of these essays analyse remedies from a generic point of view, others focus on specific remedies applied specifically in particular sectors. The sectors covered in this volume include electronic communications, postal services, energy (electricity and gas), and air transport. The final paper also presents a discussion of the United States approach to remedies in network industries. The essays comprised in this book have been written by leading academics (lawyers and economists), as well as private practitioners.