We analyse the effects of different regulatory schemes (price cap and profit sharing) on the endogenous size of a firm's investment. Using a real option approach in continuous time, we show that profit sharing does not delay a firm's start-up investment compared to a pure price-cap scheme....

We analyze the design of optimal regulation of a domestic monopolist that also competes in an unregulated foreign market. We show how foreign activities by the regulated firm affect domestic regulation, consumers’ surplus and firm’s profits. Although expansion in unregulated foreign markets...

In this paper, we discuss a number of ways to define and measure the affordability of energy consumption, and we examine the emergence of energy poverty in Italy in the period from 1998 to 2011. The paper examines the eligibility criteria for claiming the benefits available to support energy...

We examine the regulatory design of a market for products with interdependent demands, where regulated firms provide (imperfect) substitutes and can engage in lobbying activities. Under centralized regulation, a single regulator is established, whose mandate is to maximize aggregate welfare....

This article investigates how the general principles of the Treaty have been applied to the car sector in the EU, where the soft law provisions are of particular interest. A detailed quantitative analysis from 1990 to 2008 highlights a reduction of aid over time. A shift from sectoral to...

This paper develops the idea that industry regulation can be treated as a bargaining between a firm and the public authority, and illustrates some consequences of this formulation. The author investigates a typical regulatory problem where a firm chooses a cost-reducing investment before price...