Exclusive rights, like mineral leases and radio spectrum licences, often hold option-like features. This occurs when licencees do not face the obligation to to develop the lease or to undertake the investment required to use the assigned spectrum. However, to avoid licences being unused for...

We study the competition to acquire the exclusive right to operate an infrastructure service, by comparing two different specifications for the financial proposals - "lowest price to consumers" vs "highest concession fee", and two alternative contractual arrangements: a contract which imposes...

When assigning a concession contract, the regulator faces the issue of setting the concession length. Another key issue is whether or not the concessionare should be allowed to set the timing of new investments. In this paper we investigate the impact of concession length and investment timing...

We study the competition to operate an infrastructure service by developing a model where firms report a two-dimensional sealed bid: the price to consumers and the concession fee paid to the government. Two alternative bidding rules are considered in this paper. One rule consists of awarding the...

We study the competition to acquire the exclusive right to operate an infrastructure service, by comparing two different specifications for the financial proposals - 'lowest price to consumers' vs 'highest concession fee', and two alternative contractual arrangements: a contract which imposes...