NETWORK INDUSTRIES

作者: Sam Peltzman , Clifford Winston

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摘要: When the United States began in the late 1970s to deregulate network industries—energy, transportation, and communications—the hard work appeared to be over. Once intractable political forces were overcome, and as deregulation moved forward it seemed only a matter of time before markets instead of regulators would fully determine the allocation of resources in these industries. More than twenty years later, markets are functioning in these network industries—and so are regulators. The airline industry has been completely deregulated, but in the past few years Congress and the US Department of Transportation have raised concerns about how unregulated airline competition is working, and they have signaled their intention to take corrective action if necessary. Congress, for example, has been debating proposals that would create a new commission to review airline pricing strategies, and the Transportation Department has drawn up competition guidelines that attempt to identify instances of predatory behavior and establish acceptable zones of pricing behavior. The industry has felt compelled to draw up a “passengers’ bill of rights” to help fend off legislation. Deregulation has given the railroads substantially more operating and pricing freedom, but maximum rate “guidelines” were retained for certain shipments thought to be captive to rail, such as coal and chemicals. The Surface Transportation Board was given the authority to determine the reasonableness of rates that are challenged by shippers under these guidelines. Because the board has not effectively mediated rate disputes, tensions between some shippers and railroads run …

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