Future Directions in Postal Reform, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2001 Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy Series, Vol. 38

Future Directions in Postal Reform brings together leading practitioners, world-wide postal administrations, and the courier industry, as well as a number of regulators, academic economists, mailers, and lawyers, to examine some of the major policy and regulatory issues facing the postal and delivery industry. Issues addressed include international postal policy; the universal service obligation; regulation; competition, entry, and the role of scale and scope economies; the nature and role of cost analysis in postal service; productivity; interaction of law and economics; and future technologies and service standards.

1. Difficulties of Deregulation When Wage Costs are the Major Cost.- 2. Estimation of the Potential Impact of Cross-Border Liberalization.- 3. A Critique of the Theory of Incentive Regulation.- 4. Preparing the Postal Service’s Rate Structures for Competition.- 5. Regulatory and Governance Changes in Liberalized, Commercialized Postal Environments.- 6. Funding Universal Service Obligations: The Costs of Liberalization.- 7. Whither the USO under Competitive Entry: A Microstructure Approach.- 8. Uniform Pricing and Postal Market Liberalization.- 9. The Role of the Monopoly Product in the Cost of Universal Service.- 10. The Regulatory Framework for Postal Markets in Germany.- 11. An Analysis of Some Specific Cost Drivers in the Delivery Activity.- 12. Mail Use by Firms.- 13. The Demand for Direct Mail in Portugal.- 14. Postal Profits Arise where People Are.- 15. Reforming the Universal Postal Union.- 16. Reform in the Universal Postal Union and the World Trade Organization.- 17. GATS and the Postal Sector: The Next Round of Negotiations.- 18. The Significance of the Microsoft Antitrust Litigation for Postal Services Operators.- 19. Market Definition in EC Competition Law concerning Postal Services.- 20. Lifetime Addresses: A New Postal Paradigm for the 21st Century.- 21. Legislation Relating to Electronic Web Commerce Created at the European Union Level.