Interchange fees and related issues in payment card markets have been the focus of considerable attention recently. The academic community and public officials have begun to scrutinize these markets. Meanwhile, these markets continue to experience dynamic change as card payments account for an...

The following is a transcription of my discussion of the three papers (published in this issue) that were presented in the "Panel of Country Studies" session of the Antitrust Activity in Card-Based Payment Systems: Causes and Consequences conference.

We examine the impact to date of the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to reduce interchange fees on credit cards in Australia by almost half. We find that, in the short run, issuers have recovered between 30 and 40 percent of the loss of interchange fees. Merchants have benefited from lower...

In this short comment, I provide my views on "The Effect of Regulatory Intervention in Two-Sided Markets: An Assessment of Interchange-Fee Capping in Australia" (published in this issue) that was presented at the Antitrust Activity in Card-Based Payment Systems: Causes and Consequences conference.

This paper makes the case that the structure of payment systems is such that, in contrast to competition in normal markets, private incentives can encourage activities and pricing that do not necessarily improve social welfare. Furthermore, while there is usually a reasonable presumption that...

We analyze the complex nature of interactions among participants in "two-sided" payments system markets, examine empirical evidence on benefits, especially merchant benefits, and re-assess the role of interchange in balancing interests and allocating costs between merchants and consumers. We...

The following is a transcription of my discussion of the papers (published in this issue) that were presented in the Panel on Competition Policy in Card-Based Payment Systems session of the Antitrust Activity in Card-Based Payment Systems: Causes and Consequences conference.

A wide-ranging discussion of the evolution of pricing in early transportation industries, such as lighthouses, canals, and turnpikes, is presented. It shows that price discrimination was an important factor in the development of those industries, and tended to intensify with time. In order to...

We construct comprehensive and consistent datasets on telecommunications and electricity regulations in developing countries through extensive surveys of regulators. The database of telecommunications regulations includes 178 variables on regulatory governance and content in 45 countries. The...

This paper reviews recent advances in multi-period congestion pricing models in urban road system. Mathematical formulations of various congestion pricing problems for two time periods (peak and off-peak) and for a simple road network are presented. A procedure is provided for conducting a...