Reviews

INDUSTRIAL POLICY: MARKETS VERSUS PLANS.

Employment Institute, 1991: Improving Britain's Industrial Performance. London: Employment Institute, £4.50 paper.

Beynon, H., Hudson, R. and Sadler, D. 1991: A Tale of Two Industries: The Contraction of Coal and Steel in the North East of England. Milton Keynes: Open University Press, £9.99 paper.

LOCAL SPACE.

Murray, R. 1991: Local Space: Europe and the New Regionalism. Manchester/Stevenage: CLES/SEEDS.

THE VITAL ECONOMY.

Michael Fass and Richard Scothorne 1990: The Vital Economy - Integrating Training and Enterprise. Fountainhall, Edinburgh: Abbeystrand Publishing £7.99 paper.

THE QUALITY DEBATE.

Hodge, M. 1991: Quality, Equality, Democracy: Improving Public Services. London: Fabian Pamphlet 549, £3.50 paper.     

A note on price cap regulation and competition

This paper examines the properties of a price-cap regulatory regime similar in design to a plan recently proposed by AGT Ltd. in hearings on Alternative Forms of Regulation before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. The price-cap plan incorporates a number of novel features which include (i) quantity weights that evolve through time rather than remaining fixed; (ii) adjustments for productivity that incorporate yardstick competition; and (iii) allowing the weights to reflect the firm's market power or absence thereof in the presence of competition. Hence, should competitive circumstances permit, the regulatory regime allows for its own sunset.     

Railway innovation and uncertainty

This paper outlines two innovative projects carried out within the same organisation, but with markedly differing results. One has been satisfactorily completed while the other, although having run for much longer, is still experiencing technical problems. The two projects, British Rail's Advanced Passenger Train, and High Speed Train, are examined in relation to the concept of uncertainty. It is suggested that many of the points upon which the projects are differentiated can be attributed to the degree of uncertainty to which they were subject. It is concluded that one means of handling the uncertainty associated with development programmes is to adopt a flexible approach. It is noted, however, that flexibility may not be simply a question of personnel or organisational disposition, but can be influenced by the characteristics of particular projects.     

Will Open Supply Lower Retail Gasoline Prices?

Retail gasoline lessee-dealers have lobbied for the right to purchase their gasoline supplies from sources other than the lessor-refiners with whom they have contracted. This article examines a unique data set of gasoline prices in Los Angeles, along with corresponding market- and station-level characteristics, to gain some insights into whether the proposed "open-supply" legislation would likely lower the prices charged to consumers. Controlling for market- and station-level characteristics, the authors find that stations with the most alternative sources of gasoline supplies have significantly higher retail prices, casting serious doubt on the claims made by open-supply proponents. (JEL L0 , L1 , L4 )