We conduct, to our knowledge, the first cost-benefit analysis of the universal service obligation (USO) in the postal sector. Three alternatives are analysed that reduce delivery frequency and/or delivery speed, with particular emphasis on quantifying the potential loss of consumer benefits....

Since many merchants charge consumers a single price regardless of payment method, payment card rewards programs may cause some consumers to indirectly subsidize others. From our consumer survey, we find that higher income consumers received a higher rewards rate, and from merchant operating...

We focus on the role of the price of basic local telephone service on broadband adoption, to determine whether and to what extent overlapping legacy telephone policies interfere with the contemporary goal of increased broadband adoption. The analysis uses nationwide quarterly household-level...

We experimentally study equilibrium selection in repeated coordination games played on networks. We test predictions from three competing theories. In line with payoff-dominance as a deductive selection principle, experienced subjects coordinate on the payoff-dominant (but risk-dominated)...

We test theoretical results from Golub and Jackson (2012a), which are based on a random network model, regarding time to convergence of a learning/behavior-updating process. In particular, we see how well those theoretical results match the process when it is simulated on empirically observed...

We examine patterns of acquiring non-native languages in a model with two linguistic communities with heterogeneous learning skills, where every individual faces the choice of self-learning the foreign language or acquiring it at a profit-maximizing linguistic school. We consider a one-school...

This paper relates to the current discussion about how to measure the net cost and the unfair burden of universal service provision in network industries. The established profitability cost approach compares the profit of a universal service provider (USP) with and without a universal service...

This article investigates the pricing decisions in two-sided markets when several platforms are needed simultaneously for the successful completion of a transaction. The results indicate that the anticommons problem generalizes to two-sided markets. On the other hand, the limit of an atomistic...

We build a model where a postal incumbent offering single piece, transactional and advertising mail competes with postal entrants and with a firm offering an alternative medium. We solve for the optimal prices under various competition assumptions. We calibrate the model and provide numerical...

This paper discusses the net cost of universal service obligations and the potential burden they represent on the universal service provider. Specifically, it analyzes the situation in the postal sector after full liberalization. It considers various interpretations of what an unfair burden...