中国自然垄断产业放松规制改革时机选择与时序设计研究

中国自然垄断产业改革的一个重要趋势是放松规制。垄断产业放松规制改革需要在恰当的时机实现阶段性突破,放松规制改革的实施需要满足放松规制改革的净收益大于补偿受损利益集团的社会成本这一硬性约束条件。同样,放松规制改革的时序设计也十分重要,不同的时序选择会导致不同的改革效果。我国自然垄断产业放松规制改革可以采取先易后难的改革战略,分阶段进行。     

Electricity: Changes and Issues

This paper surveys recent developments in therestructuring and deregulation of the electric utilityindustry. New federal and state legislation isreviewed together with commission actions designed to carry out restructuring. The Department of Energy's highly controversial attempt to measure the netbenefits of electricity deregulation is noted, alongwith the response of DOE's critics. Five major factorsthat will affect the success or failure ofrestructuring and deregulation are examined at length. These include: growing industry concentration, theincreased risk premium attached to the market trading of electricity, the transition costs that will beincurred, the organization and governance of thetransmission network, and the adequacy of consumer and environmental protection in the new setting.     

新阶段中国垄断性行业改革的三线推进战略

垄断性行业的改革是中国新阶段经济体制改革能否取得战略性突破的“关键之战”。在经济加快发展、市场化深度推进和经济全球化的新形势下，推进中国垄断性行业的改革必须要有新思维。本文提出，中国新阶段推进垄断性行业的改革应实行“三线推进”战略：一是以“引入竞争机制、构筑规模型竞争格局”为核心的市场结构改革；二是以“引入非公有资本，实现公私资本相机参与”为特征的产权制度改革；三是以“放松管制与重建规制并重”为内容的政府监管改革。只有实行上述“三线推进”战略，方能使垄断性行业的改革取得实质性突破。     

The determinants of air passenger traffic at Turkish airports

Investigating the determinants of air passenger traffic has become commonplace. In contrast with most previous publications, this paper investigates these determinants in an emerging country, Turkey, at the provincial level between 2004 and 2014. We find that GDP/capita, population, distance to alternative airports, tourism, leading cities, and international migrations all support more air traffic. Furthermore, market concentration is associated with less traffic, and the presence of academics with more traffic. Mapping models' residuals suggest catchment areas, surface transport options, domestic migrations and (geo)politics could also matter. Accordingly, it appears the determinants of Turkey's air passenger traffic do not differ from those of developed economies. The results also suggest new airports should be built based on the aforementioned factors.     

Financial crises: Lessons from the Nordic experience

The current financial crisis is the 19th such crisis in the post-war period in advanced economies. Recent literature classifies the Nordic crises in Norway, Sweden and Finland in late 1980s and early 1990s among the Big Five crises that have happened before the current crisis, which is now of a global nature. This paper outlines the developments of the Nordic crises, reasons behind them and crisis management by the authorities. Relatively more emphasis is placed on the Finnish crisis, as it was the deepest one. The paper concludes by considering the lessons that can be drawn from the Nordic crises.     

Deregulation and the determinants of network access: evidence from the German interurban bus industry

We investigate the characteristics of cities gaining access to the German interurban bus network in the first two years following the deregulation of the industry in January 2013. Applying both parametric and semi-parametric survival models, we find strong evidence that the probability of a city to be added to a provider’s network increases not only with the mere size of its population but also with further demographic characteristics such as average income or the share of young and old inhabitants. Additionally, while an increasing importance of tourism has a further positive effect, a rising automobile density is imposing a significantly negative impact on the probability of a city to gain access to the network.     

Competition and Innovation in Retail Electricity Markets: Evidence from Italy

Italy's 2015 Annual Competition Law, if finally approved, provides for phasing out retail electricity price regulation, as well as the implementation of full retail liberalisation, from 1 July 2018. This is a significant reform, not just because it is consistent with the broader market design for electricity. Indeed, retail liberalisation is a qualifying element of the full integration of the European Union's electricity market. The full opening of retail markets provides a great opportunity for innovation, both on the demand side and on the supply side. This article investigates the theoretical background, and presents some empirical evidence, on the competition–innovation nexus in retail electricity markets.     

Air deregulation in China and its impact on airline competition 1994–2012

China’s air transportation has experienced rapid growth and major reforms in the past three decades, some of which have been partially successful and are still ongoing today. The paper aims to analyze China’s air deregulation experience over the last two decades and its impact on airline competition from a geographical perspective. After the establishment of the “Big Three” in 2002, the paper reveals that there has been a trade-off between the extent of deregulation and airline competition in China because the central government has tended to strengthen the “Big Three” rather than totally open the market to private and locally owned airlines. The paper uses each airline group as the basic unit of analysis and reveals that (1) the air market has been more concentrated in the “Big Three” as a result of the process of air deregulation; (2) airline competition in over two thirds of the airports and one half of the routes has increased in the last 18 years, but the core airports and trunk routes are chiefly dominated by the “Big Three”. The peripheral airports and thin routes have been operated by private and locally owned airlines; and (3) regionally, airline competition has occurred in most airports of the eastern region, and it is more intense than in the central and western regions. But even here, competition in the eastern region has however decreased in 1994–2012. The three main contributions of the paper are: (1) the use of two measures of competition in the airline market; (2) the analysis of the historical evolution of competition; and (3) an understanding the role of the geography of competition in the Chinese airline market.     

Banking consolidation and small firm financing for research and development

This article examines the effect of increased market concentration of the banking industry caused by the Riegle–Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act (IBBEA) on the availability of finance for small firms engaged in research and development (R&D). I measure the financing decisions of these small firms using a balanced panel of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) applications. Using difference-in-differences, I find IBBEA decreased the supply of finance for small R&D firms. This effect is larger for late adopters of IBBEA, which tended to be states with stronger small banking sectors pre-IBBEA.     

The effect of LCCs operations and scheduled services deregulation on air charter business in Japan

Recent aviation deregulation is producing structural changes within leisure industries in many parts of the world. This paper reviews the development of low cost carriers (LCCs) and assesses its effects on both of domestic and international charter markets in Japan since 2007. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the effect of scheduled services deregulation on international tourism to Japanese regional areas in relation to charter services. The results suggest that in the domestic market, LCC operations have seldom impacted charter traffic due to the differences in target markets and routes. In the international market, LCCs launched scheduled services to Japan but mainly on high demand routes. The deregulation of scheduled services led to a passenger shift from charters to newly scheduled flights and a concentration of tourist arrivals in regional centres. It also led to a decline in international tourist arrivals in some remote destinations. This paper indicates a current trend in which charter business is still an important sector in aviation and leisure markets.