The American copyright system separately protects the sounds in music recordings and the words and music of the underlying musical composition upon which they are based; separate rights are further defined for the reproduction and public performance of both the recording and the composition. The...

In a critique of my paper "Technological Incompatibility, Endogenous Switching Costs and Lock-in", Haucap (2003) argues that its applicability for policy purposes is limited by its reliance on the assumptions of no market growth and of the firms' ability to commit to technological compatibility....

There is an intense debate regarding the best way to attract investment for the long-term expansion of an electricity transmission network. We study three hypotheses: the long-term financial-transmission-right hypothesis; the incentive-regulation hypothesis; and the market-power hypothesis. The...

Automated teller machines (ATMs) have altered the relationship between banks and their depositors, as well as the competitive relationships among banks. In this paper, I survey the literature to describe the ways that ATMs have influenced these aspects of banking markets, and conclude with...

The decision-making process in state utility commissions is best described as "regulatory impressionism." Working in concert with longstanding notions of judicial deference, the existence of regulatory impressionism has far-reaching implications for the move towards a competitive marketplace in...

The popular press often extolls packet networks as much more efficient than switched voice networks in utilizing transmission lines. This impression is reinforced by the delays experienced on the Internet and the famous graphs for traffic patterns through the major exchange points on the...

This article provides a review and critique of the empirical literature that examines the effects of incentive regulation on retail telephone service quality in the United States. The literature provides mixed findings. Some dimensions of service quality appear to improve under incentive...

We survey the limited data that exists concerning the cost of making/receiving a payment by banks, retailers, and other parties to a transaction. Since an electronic payment costs between one-third and one-half that of a paper-based instrument, a country may save 1% of its GDP annually as it...

Incumbent telecommunications carriers have been mandated to share their networks with new retail service providers at regulated wholesale rates. This regulatory structure creates options which incumbent systems must write and which all potential entrants are awarded at a price of zero. Intense...

Significant attention worldwide has been paid to the regulation of credit card interchange fees. In part, this attention has followed concerns expressed about the level of these fees in Europe, the U.S. and Australia. The Reserve Bank of Australia recently conducted an extensive inquiry into the...