Numerous countries have attempted to improve the performance of their railways by introducing more competition, but there is fierce debate and no consensus on how this is best achieved. This book reveals how railways were an obvious target for reform because they were often losing traffic and money, and because the government was typically deeply involved as either owner or regulator.

Taking a global approach, this insightful Handbook brings together leading researchers to provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art in railway regulation with a particular focus on countries that rely heavily on railways for transportation links. The Handbook also considers the most pressing issues for those working in and with railway systems, and outlines future trends in the development of rail globally.

The UK has pioneered the introduction of competition into service industries. The radical policy innovations have been controversial. This volume looks at the lessons which have emerged from the UK so far, and considers the implications for future policy in the UK and for other countries following its precedent.

This book presents a comprehensive review of the vast economic literature covering the governance issues of network industries and suggests paths to improve their efficiences.

This title was first published in 2000. This work looks at the privatization of British Rail. It covers the competition for franchises and the regulation of those franchises. The study evaluates the extent to which the promotion of competition was an appropriate policy goal in the privatization of British rail. The book examines the rail system as a whole and looks at the prospects for the future.

The thorough analyses presented in the book provide the reader with a good overview of the deregulation process in the respective industries. . . Competition Policy and Merger Analysis in Deregulated and Newly Competitive Industries is a valuable resource for researchers of law, economics, and political science. . . Volker Soyez, European Competition Law Review This comprehensive book contains case studies on the evolution of competition policy, with an emphasis on merger policy, for seven major US industries that have experienced substantial deregulation in the past forty years electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, railroads, airlines, hospitals and banking. Also included is a comparison of the EU s experience in attempting to bring about competition in the energy, finance, and airline industries. The contributors to the volume, each a recognized expert on the industry examined, explore the positive and negative implications of the substitution of market-oriented processes for historic patterns of command and control regulation. The chapters reveal clear similarities in the economic, legal and public policy issues that have arisen following deregulation of these economic sectors. Together they provide a good basis to discern the consistency of the problems and the relative success of differing responses to these issues over a range of industries going through similar transformation. While taking a basically positive view of the movement away from direct regulation, the contributors identify a number of continuing problems with achieving workable competition in these industries. The thorough analyses presented here will be of great value to law, economics, and political science researchers interested in deregulation, economic consultants advising government agencies or private parties, attorneys who focus on deregulated industries, policy planners at the agencies overseeing these industries, and students in advanced seminars on economic regulation.