In most member states of the European Union (EU), universal postal services provided by the incumbent operator are exempt from value added taxes (VAT) on the grounds that they are the “public postal service.” Other postal service providers have to charge VAT at the standard rate. The paper...

Letter markets are still highly regulated in many countries. The European Commission, however, plans to liberalize letter markets in all member states within this decade. We describe the economic characteristics of letter markets, identify four likely regulatory scenarios, and analyze business...