The unsustainable costs of partial deregulation - MacAvoy, Paul W. (Yale University Press, 2007)
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002
Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-171) and index
Introduction to network technology and market structure -- The regulation of networks -- Electric and gas network performance and partial deregulation -- The strategic response of Pacific Gas and Electric Corporation to partial deregulation during the California power crisis -- The long distance telephone networks and partial deregulation -- The singular result of partial deregulation and what can be done
Three decades ago, federal policymakers - Republicans and Democrats - embarked on a general strategy of deregulation. In the electricity, gas delivery, and telecommunications industries, the strategy called for restructuring to separate production from transmission and distribution, followed by elimination of price controls. The expected results were lower prices and increased quality, reliability, and scope of services. Paul MacAvoy, an economist with forty years of experience in the regulatory field, here assesses the results and concludes that deregulation has failed to achieve any of these goals in any of these industries. MacAvoy shows that we now have only partial deregulation, a mixture of oligopoly structure with direct price control. He explores why this system leads to volatile and high prices, reduced investment, and low profitability, and what policy actions can be implemented to address these problems