Postal and Delivery Services: Delivering on Competition (Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy Book 44)

Postal and Delivery Services: Delivering on Competition is an indispensable source of information and analysis on the current state of the postal and delivery sector. It offers current insight into strategy, regulation as well as the economics of this sector. Issues addressed include international postal policy, the universal service obligation, regulation, competition, entry, the role of scale and scope economies, the nature and role of cost and demand analysis in postal service, productivity, interaction of law and economics, human resources, transition and reform issues. Front Matter....Pages i-xxi Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Balancing Access and the Universal Service Obligation....Pages 3-32 Pricing and Worksharing Discounts in the Postal Sector....Pages 33-48 Access Pricing and Parcels Delivery....Pages 49-69 Brand Loyalty and Limited Entry in Postal Markets....Pages 71-92 Reconciling Competition, Downstream Access, and Universal Service in Postal Markets....Pages 93-115 Front Matter....Pages 117-117 Econometrics of Mail Demand....Pages 119-140 The Productivity Analysis of Postal Services....Pages 141-155 On the Output Elasticity of the Activities of Post Office Counters in Italy....Pages 157-167 Delivery Cost Heterogeneity and Vulnerability to Entry....Pages 169-184 Front Matter....Pages 185-185 Is the Customer Always Right?....Pages 187-204 Employee Stock Ownership as a Human Capital Strategy for the United States Postal Service....Pages 205-222 Homeland Security Brings Ratepayer vs. Taxpayer To Center Stage....Pages 223-242 U.S. Postal Service Collective Bargaining....Pages 243-262 Front Matter....Pages 263-263 Exit, Voice and Postal Performance in Developing Countries....Pages 265-276 Extra-Territorial Offices of Exchange,the USO and International Trade....Pages 277-284 Extraterritorial Offices of Exchange....Pages 285-300 Front Matter....Pages 301-301 Transformation at Deutsche Post World Net using the Example of Socially Compatible Workforce Adjustment....Pages 303-319 The Cookie Jar Dilemma....Pages 321-338 The New Directive on the Further Liberalization of Postal Markets in Europe....Pages 339-353 Market Results of Postal Reform in Germany....Pages 355-374 The situation currently faced by national post offices (POs) is quite serious in that they face competition not just from electronic media, particularly the Internet, but also pressure to open up their traditional monopoly markets to entrants.