Competition and the Regulation of Utilities

companies to diversify may outweigh the costs of doing so, and that some traditional regulatory concerns may be excessively restrictive. The papers by Hillman, Harris, and Jang and Norsworthy, while all relating to individual industries, have lessons for other regulated industries. Hillman's paper, "Oil Pipeline Rates: A Case for Yardstick Regulation," deals with the important topic of yardstick regulation for oil pipelines. While his application is highly specific, the potential application of yardstick regulation goes beyond oil pipelines. He reviews the evolution in the law regulating oil pipelines. While showing that some progress has been made in introducing economic efficiency considerations into regulation, he provides a careful critique of the operation of existing regulation and suggests an alternative based upon a yardstick approach. His approach seeks to use competitive market prices as the yardstick, with administration of price discrimination limited to dealing with possible "favoritism" to subsidiaries and affiliates. "Telecommunications Services as a Strategic Industry: Implications for United States Public Policy" by Harris and "Productivity Growth and Technical Change in the United States Telecommunications Equipment Manufacturing Industries" by Jang and Norsworthy provide important insights for telecommunications.

Contenu

1 Introduction to Competition and the Regulation of Utilities.- 2 The Law and Economics of IntraLATA Competition: 1+ Issues and Access Charge Imputation.- 3 Diversification and Regulated Monopoly.- 4 Predatory Pricing Safeguards and Telecommunications Regulation.- 5 Oil Pipeline Rates: A Case for Yardstick Regulation.- 6 Telecommunications Services as a Strategic Industry: Implications for United States Public Policy.- 7 Productivity Growth and Technological Change in the United States Telecommunications Equipment Manufacturing Industries.- 8 Entry and Welfare Loss in Regulated Industries.- 9 Information Economics and New Forms of Regulation.- 10 Franchise Bidding for Public Utilities Revisited.- 11 Privatization of Electricity in the United States.