The deregulation of dairy marketing that occurred on 1 July 2000 is a fascinating case study in microeconomic reform. The role of interacting industry and institutional features in the movement to deregulation is explained, with political realities being recognised. A key part of the...

This paper develops a model of a representative transition economy to explain the stylised facts of output declines and real exchange rate appreciation in the early stages of transformation. These facts can be explained by supply-side shocks, interest rate liberalisation or a reduction in core...

This document (of 418 pages) comprises the proceedings of an OECD roundtable on promoting competition in the natural gas industry, held in February 2000. Natural gas is a key source of energy for OECD countries, both in its own right and as an input into the production of electricity. Regulatory...

This document (of 196 pages) comprises the proceedings of an OECD roundtable on promoting competition in local services with a special focus on competition in handling solid waste. Many natural monopolies are not under the authority of central or federal government, but are the responsibility of...

The Staggers Rail Act of 1980 relaxed restrictions on pricing and eased abandonment procedures in the railroad industry. Although the Act made virtually no reference to labor, its impact on labor has been dramatic. The long-term contraction of industry employment accelerated quite sharply after...

The continuation of consumer ownership has been an important part of the Danish electricity reform from 1999. Consumer ownership refers to either a consumer co-operative or a municipal utility. Contrary to conventional wisdom, consumer ownership can be supported by solid arguments from modern...

In general, the introduction of competition into the public sector seems to lead to higher cost-efficiency in service production. However, there are examples of substantial cost increases in some areas. In this paper, using a mixed oligopoly model, we investigate the effects of deregulation on...

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...

The paper reexamines the conventional results relating to inflow of foreign capital, removal of protectionism and structural reform programmes, in a small open economy in terms of a two-sector general equilibrium model with an informal sector. The paper shows that in the presence of labour...

The Universal Postal Union (UPU) is the governing body that provides the framework for agreements in international postal markets. The UPU Congress is attempting to reform some key international agreements related to remail and terminal dues. The private postal carriers argue that UPU's...