In recent decades, network industries around the world have gone through periods of de- and re-regulation. With vast amounts of sometimes conflicting research carried out into specific network industries, the time has come for a critical over-arching assessment of this entire industry in order to provide a platform of understanding to aid future research and practice. This comprehensive resource provides an orientation for academics, policy makers and managers as to the main economic, regulatory and commercial challenges in the network industries. The book is split into sections covering market, policy, regulation, management perspectives, whilst all of the key network industries are covered, including energy, transport, water and telecommunications. Overseen by world-class Editors and experts in the field, this inter-disciplinary resource is essential reading for students and researchers in international business, industrial economics and the industries.

Although the airline, railroad, telecommunications, and electric power industries are at very different stages in adjusting to regulatory reform, each industry faces the same critical public policy question: Are policymakers taking appropriate steps to stimulate competition or are they turning back the clock by slowing the process of deregulation? This volume addresses that issue and identifies the next steps that policymakers should take to enhance public welfare in the provision of these services. Each chapter identifies the central policy issues that have arisen in each industry as it undergoes transformation to a deregulated environment. The authors reveal the flaws in the residual regulations and make the case for faster and more comprehensive deregulation. A concluding chapter identifies how interest groups continue to exert influence on regulatory agencies and on Congress, potentially undermining deregulation. The papers included here were initially presented in December 1999 at a conference sponsored and organized by the AEI–Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies.

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.

While particularly dynamic and innovative, the digital and telecommunication industries are found to have a great tendency towards concentration, resulting in strong market power and raising concerns from competition and regulatory authorities. In this study focusing on such network industries, Jean-Marc Zogheib explores the interplay between public policy and firms' strategies by combining various tools of theoretical economic analysis adopted from industrial economics, network economics, and platform economics. Mr. Zogheib's thesis consists of three distinct essays: the first chapter examines how merger policy affects firms' entry strategies, the second chapter shifts the focus to public intervention by considering how the coexistence of private and public players affects competition and investment, while the third chapter investigates the role of privacy in competition between digital platforms and the importance of consumer data in the competitive analysis of mergers. This book clearly illustrates how economics can contribute essential building blocks to the construction of competitive reasoning and how the integration of competition law into economic models extended their collective utility. An important read for lawyers and economists alike. The book was awarded the inaugural Concurrences PhD Award in Economics.

This book introduces upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers to the latest developments in network economics, one of the fastest-growing fields in all industrial organization. Network industries include the Internet, e-mail, telephony, computer hardware and software, music and video players, and service operations in the banking, legal, and airlines industries among many others. The work offers an overview of the subject matter as well as investigations about specific industries. It conveys the essential features of how strategic interactions between firms are affected by network activity, as well as covering social interaction and its influence on consumers' choices of products and services. Virtually no calculus is used in the text, and each chapter ends with a series of exercises and selected references. The text may be used for both one- and two-semester courses.

This book offers a careful scrutiny of energy and telephony reforms and their social impact on households in 15 countries across Western Europe. It concludes that the benefits for consumers are limited and it discusses the reasons why the European reform experiment of network industries is not living up to its promises.

Providing a non-technical analysis of the modern macro-economy, the contributors provide their views on the new economy from a variety of perspectives.