Multi-Modal Competition and the Future of Mail: (Advances in Regulatory Economics series)

This compilation of original papers selected from the 19th Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics and authored by an international cast of economists, lawyers, regulators and industry practitioners addresses perhaps the most significant problem that has ever faced the postal sector - electronic competition from information and communication technologies (ICT). This has increased significantly over the last few years with a consequent serious drop in mail volume. All postal services have been hard hit by ICT, but probably the hardest hit is the United States Postal Service, which has lost almost a quarter of its mail volume since 2007. The loss of mail volume has a devastating effect on scale economies, which now work against post offices, forcing up their unit costs. Strategies to stem the loss in volume include non-linear pricing or volume discounts, increased efficiency and the development of new products. This loss of mail volume from ICT is one of a number of current problems addressed in this volume. The Universal Service Obligation (USO) continues to be a leading issue and concern that ICT undermines postal services ability to finance the USO is discussed. The importance of measuring and forecasting demand and costs take on even greater importance as ICT undermines the foundations of the postal business. This thought provoking book brings to bear new analyses of the most serious threat post offices have ever faced and raises fundamental questions as to the future of mail. Multi-Modal Competition and the Future of Mail is an ideal resource for students, researchers in regulation and competition law, postal administrations, policy makers, consulting firms and regulatory bodies.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface 1. Non-linear Pricing, Volume Discounts and the USO under Entry Michael A. Crew and Paul R. Kleindorfer 2. Price Differentiation: What is Acceptable for a Universal Service Provider? Richard Eccles 3. Postal Price Regulation in a Competitive Environment Ralf Wojtek and Martin Zauner 4. Failure to Implement the Postal Directive in the EU and EEA: Public and Private Enforcement of State Liability Alessandra Fratini and Mariacristina Bottino 5. Forecasting Letter Volumes: Augmenting Econometric Baseline Projections Vance L. Martin, Chris Paterson and Jessie Xiaokang Wang 6. Uncertainty and Projections of the Demand for Mail Frédérique Fève, Jean-Pierre Florens, Leticia Veruete-McKay, Soterios Soteri and Frank Rodriguez 7. Do Volume Increases and Decreases Have the Same Effect on Labor Hours? Michael D. Bradley, Jeff Colvin and Mary K. Perkins 8. A Panel Data Analysis of Inefficiency and Heterogeneity in the Postal Sector Catherine Cazals, Paul Dudley, Jean-Pierre Florens and Michael Jones 9. Affordability of Postal Services Addressed to Households Claire Borsenberger, Denis Joram and Lise Martin 10. Towards a 21st Century Postal Service John C. Panzar 11. Privatization: Could the Benefits Seen in Other Network Industries be Realized in Postal Industries? Stuart Holder and Helen Smith 12. The Confluence of the Postal Sector with the Internet Economy and Regulation John Hearn 13. Allocating Cost between Universal Services and Services Outside the Scope of Universal Service Heikki Nikali, Kari Elkelä, Pekka Leskinen, Päivi Rokkanen and Peter Karlsson 14. Price-cap Regulation in the Postal Sector: Single versus Multiple Baskets Claire Borsenberger, Sébastien Bréville, Helmuth Cremer, Philippe De Donder and Denis Joram 15. Optimal Pricing of Mail in the Transactional Market and Welfare for the Wider Communications Market Philippe De Donder, Helmuth Cremer, Paul Dudley and Frank Rodriguez 16. A Market Study of Packets and Parcels Services Stephen Gibson and Nancy Race 17. Defending Mail Markets Against New Entrants: An Application of the Defender Model Christian Jaag, Helmut Dietl, Urs Trinkner and Oliver Fürst 18. Liberalization and Postal Workers Henrik B. Okholm and Anna Möller 19. Government Use of the Postal System: An Ignored USO Component Michael J. Ravnitzky and J.P. Klingenberg 20. UPU Terminal Dues: Winners and Losers James I. Campbell Jr., Alex Kalevi Dieke and Martin Zauner 21. On the Use of Reverse Auctions to Designate Universal Postal Service Providers Carlos Costa 22. Priority and Non-Priority Services: Returning to the Origins? Filipa Silva 23. Understanding Consumer Preferences for Paper and Digital Marketing Channels Kari Elkelä 24. Accounting for Behavioral Biases for Non-biased Demand Estimations Meloria Meschi and Carla Pace

About the Author :
Edited by the late Michael A. Crew, formerly CRRI Professor of Regulatory Economics and Director, Center for Research in Regulated Industries (CRRI), Rutgers Business School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, US and the late Paul R. Kleindorfer, former Paul Dubrule Professor of Sustainable Development, INSEAD, France and Anheuser-Busch Professor Emeritus of Management Science, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, US