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...

Letter markets are still highly regulated in most countries. Some countries, such as those of the European Union, plan to liberalize letter markets within this decade. Competition will provide many new challenges and opportunities for established and new players. In this paper we analyze...

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...