It has long been recognised that the mechanism for funding irrigation infrastructure in Australia may be incompatible with efficient trade in the rural water market. If the revenue received by an irrigation operator is dependent on the volume of water entitlements held in the operator’s...

What is the primary rationale for the regulation of airport take-off and landing charges? The conventional economic response focuses on the potential to exercise market power, resulting in the economic harm known as deadweight loss. But this conventional view does a poor job of explaining the...

There are few, if any, industries more important to the Russian economy than the natural gas industry. Russia is a major gas exporter and has substantial natural gas reserves. This industry is dominated by a single vertically-integrated firm, RAO Gazprom. The industry has faced several problems,...

In some ways, the Russian telecommunications industry is a paradox. Parts of the industry are highly competitive – the number of operators in this market is in the thousands – but the existing regulatory regime is weak, particularly in ensuring access to essential facilities, and the...

The rail industry in Russia is one of the largest in the world. Russia’s vast distances, relatively under-developed road infrastructure, and high reliance on bulk commodities imply that the rail industry has a unique and key role in the transportation infrastructure of Russia. At present the...

L’industrie du rail en Russie est l’une des plus importantes du monde. Les énormes distances, des infrastructures routières relativement sous développées et un usage élevé de produits pondéreux permettent de comprendre pourquoi l’industrie ferroviaire joue un rôle clé et...

L’industrie des télécommunications russe est par certains côtés un véritable paradoxe. Certains de ces segments sont hautement concurrentiels (le nombre d’opérateurs sur le marché se chiffre en milliers) mais, d’un autre côté, le régime réglementaire en vigueur se révèle...

Pour l’économie russe, il n’y a guère d’industries qui revêtent plus d’importance que celle du gaz naturel. La Russie est un grand exportateur de gaz et possède des réserves considérables de gaz naturel. Cette industrie, dominée par une seule entreprise verticalement intégrée...

Why regulate natural monopolies? Conventional economic theory points to the price-marginal cost margin and the ensuing deadweight loss. But this hypothesis does a poor job of explaining the way that regulators behave in practice. This paper proposes an alternative hypothesis: that natural...