The present article paints a portrait of the likely EU securities market landscape post-MiFiD. Much of the available analysis on MiFID has focused on short-term adjustment and compliance costs, especially regarding IT investments. Yet MiFID represents a revolution in European securities markets...

Technological changes in securities trading systems over the past decades not only changed the traditional business model in Europe and the U.S., but also put questions to the existing regulatory framework at both sides of the Atlantic. Heterogeneous customer demands for different vectors of...

This paper explores the status and possible regulation of the postal network in the broader context of Universal Postal Service provision and competition. It highlights the fact that there are several different ways to consider the future of the postal network. It then identifies three possible...

Ownership unbundling of distribution network operators (DNO) and the commercial activities in the electricity supply industry will distort and may impede efficient investment in distributed generation (DG). DG is electricity generation connected to the distribution network and typically involves...

This paper describes the issue economic regulators face when assessing the relative performance of network utilities by means of economic benchmarking. Using examples from two European regulatory agencies, we discuss how total expenditure (totex) benchmarking can achieve more consistent outcomes...

This paper presents a basic framework to assess whether structural (vertical) separation is desirable. It is discussed within the setting of fixed telecommunications markets. From an economist’s perspective, the key question that underlies the case for structural separation is: is there a...

Cyberspace is far from being a closed world. Unauthorized sharing of copyrighted contents is often claimed to affect new online business. Unfortunately, there are not enough empirical studies that highlight its actual impact. Most of the time, their results do not converge. This paper identifies...

Several local or regional authorities around Europe are currently deploying alternative telecom infrastructure or are seriously thinking of doing so. This is an interesting phenomenon. Only a few years ago, the European Union was adopting legislation liberalizing the telecommunications sector on...

Does the project of acquisition of Endesa, one of the two largest Spanish electricity producers, by Gas Natural, the natural gas Spanish incumbent, raise risks of anticompetitive effects? What remedies may eliminate them, if any? Spanish Authorities have to give answer to both questions to clear...