The economics of regulation: principles and institutions, Volumes 1-2

Alfred Edward Kahn

MIT Press, 1988 - Business & Economics - 559 pages

As Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board in the late 1970s, Alfred E. Kahn presided over the deregulation of the airlines and his book, published earlier in that decade, presented the first comprehensive integration of the economic theory and institutional practice of economic regulation. In his lengthy new introduction to this edition Kahn surveys and analyzes the deregulation revolution that has not only swept the airlines but has transformed American public utilities and private industries generally over the past seventeen years.While attitudes toward regulation have changed several times in the intervening years and government regulation has waxed and waned, the question of whether to regulate more or to regulate less is a topic of constant debate, one that The Economics of Regulation addresses incisively. It clearly remains the standard work in the field, a starting point and reference tool for anyone working in regulation.Kahn points out that while dramatic changes have come about in the structurally competitive industries - the airlines, trucking, stock exchange brokerage services, railroads, buses, cable television, oil and natural gas - the consensus about the desirability and necessity for regulated monopoly in public utilities has likewise been dissolving, under the burdens of inflation, fuel crises, and the traumatic experience with nuclear plants. Kahn reviews and assesses the changes in both areas: he is particularly frank in his appraisal of the effect of deregulation on the airlines.His conclusion today mirrors that of his original, seminal work - that different industries need different mixes of institutional arrangements that cannot be decided on the basis of ideology.Alfred E. Kahn is Robert Julius Thorne Professor of Political Economy at Cornell University and Special Consultant to National Economic Research Associates.

What people are saying

Review: The Economics of Regulation: A Critical Introduction

User Review  - Eric - Goodreads

The absolute only reason I would recommend this book is if you must read it. I needed it for work and it served that purpose well. It is dry and very technical, written from an economist that is one of the absolute tops in the field of regulation.

Review: The Economics of Regulation: A Critical Introduction

User Review  - Paul J - Goodreads

Don't read this book. I'm only listing it because it proves that I'm a total nerd. I read it. I enjoyed it. I've even picked it up several times hence while enjoying some scotch. I need a hobby.

Contents

• The Distinction in Practice: 8
• The Limited Attention to Quality of Service: 21
• Determination of the Rate Base: 35
• Regulating Rate Structures: 54
• 3: 63
• Problems of Defining Marginal Cost: 70
• Identifying Marginal Cost When a Large Proportion of Costs: 77
• Tempering Principle with Practicalityor One Principle with Another: 83
• Peak Responsibility: 89
• The Appropriate Time Pattern of Rates: 103
• Reproduction versus Original Capital Costs: 109
• Depreciation Policy and Technological Process: 117
• Decreasing Costs and Price Discrimination: 123
• Implications and Solutions: 130
• Principles of Discrimination: 137
• Fully Distributed Costs: 150
• 6: 158
• The Impact on Competition at the Secondary Level: 166
• Impact at the Primary Level and Other Institutional Considerations: 175
• 7: 182
• Noneconomic Considerations: 189
• The Problem of Second Best: 195
• Introduction i: 203
• Protectionism and Conservatism 11: 11
• The Tendency of Regulation to Spread 28: 28
• A Few Warning Notes 46: 46
• Incentive Plans 59: 59
• Regulatory Planning 77: 77
• The Inherent Limitations of Regulation 93: 93
• The AJW Effect 106: 106
• The Essential Prerequisite of Natural Monopoly 1 19: 119
• Natural Gas Transmission 152: 152
• 5: 170
• The Theory Applied 178: 178
• Stock Exchange Brokerage Commissions 193: 193
• Air Transport: 209
• The Issue of CreamSkimming: 220
• The Benefits and Dangers of Discriminatory: 246
• Financial Integration: 256
• Combination Companies: 264
• Horizontal and Geographic Integration: 281
• Vertical Integration in Communications: 290
• The Problem of Judgment: 306
• Power Pooling: 314
• Reprise: 324
• Selected Bibliography: 331
• Index Volumes I and II: 345

About the author

Alfred E. Kahn (1917-2010) was Robert Julius Thorne Professor of Political Economy at Cornell University and Special Consultant to National Economic Research Associates.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The economics of regulation: principles and institutions, Volumes 1-2; The Economics of Regulation: Principles and Institutions, Alfred Edward Kahn
• Author: Alfred Edward Kahn
• Edition: 2, illustrated, reprint, reissue
• Publisher: MIT Press, 1988
• ISBN: 0262610523, 9780262610520
• Length: 559 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Economics / General