The Rationality of U.S. Regulation of the Broadcast Spectrum in the 1934 Communications Act |
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Authors: | Thomas W Hazlett |
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Institution: | 1. H.H. Macaulay Endowed Professor of Economics, Clemson University, 233 Sirrine Hall, Clemson, SC, 92634, USA
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Abstract: | The Federal Radio Commission regulated radio broadcasting, 1927–1934. With the passage of the Communications Act of 1934, the 1927 Radio Act (enabling the Commission) was re-enacted in whole. This congressional endorsement yields key evidence as to what policy outcomes were intended, differentiating competing theories for the origins of spectrum allocation law: Coase (J Law Econ 2(1):1–40, 1959), emphasizing policy error; Hazlett (J Law Econ 33:133–175, 1990), focusing on “franchise rents” in a public choice framework; and the “public interest” hypothesis, reconstructed by Moss and Fein (J Policy Hist 15(4):389–416, 2003). Congress’ revealed preferences prove consistent with the franchise rents theory, while contradicting the other two. |
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