This book introduces upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers to the latest developments in network economics, one of the fastest-growing fields in all industrial organization. Network industries include the Internet, e-mail, telephony, computer hardware and software, music and video players, and service operations in the banking, legal, and airlines industries among many others. The work offers an overview of the subject matter as well as investigations about specific industries. It conveys the essential features of how strategic interactions between firms are affected by network activity, as well as covering social interaction and its influence on consumers' choices of products and services. Virtually no calculus is used in the text, and each chapter ends with a series of exercises and selected references. The text may be used for both one- and two-semester courses.

This book introduces upper-level undergraduates to network economics, the fastest-growing area of industry.

This revealing book examines different types of network industries such as railways, telecommunications and new media, and investigates their economics with an accent on history makes it stand apart from others in the area. Hans Gttinger's accessible writing style and knowledgeable research makes this book recommended reading for all those in

The unique challenges associated with understanding network industries requires insights from a range of disciplinary perspectives, namely economics, engineering, law, and political science. This book analyzes the de- and re-regulation of the network industries and the regulatory challenges these industries will face in the future. Network industries are characterised by economics that entail limiting effects on competition and market creation, and the book highlights the drivers behind their liberalization as well as the inherent need for regulation as liberalization unfolds. By way of an historical approach, the author offers insights into the distinctive approaches between Europe and North America in the past whilst also presenting the pervasive role digitalization increasingly comes to play. A concise overview of the state of thinking about the network industries, this book will be vital reading for researchers, advanced students and practitioners.

Have you ever wondered how your telephone company or Internet service provider can give you access to almost all people in the world, or how electricity suppliers can compete with each other if there is only one electric supply line passing through your street? This Element deals with the economics and public regulation of such network industries. It puts particular emphasis on the specific economic concepts used for analyzing them and on the regulatory reform movement and the compatibility of regulation and competition. Worldwide most of these industries have changed dramatically in recent years, telecommunications in particular. Network industries mostly exhibit economies of scale in production and similar economies in consumption. Both of these properties cause market power problems that often require industry-specific regulation. However, due to technological and market changes network policies have moved on from end-user regulation to wholesale regulation and in some cases to deregulation.

This textbook on network economics provides essential microeconomic instruments for the analysis of network sectors like telecommunications, transport or energy. Network-specific characteristics emerge both on the cost side and benefit side, requiring network providers to develop innovative entrepreneurial competition strategies for costing, pricing, and investment. From a competition policy perspective, a number of interesting questions arise: In which parts of networks is competition functional? In contrast, where is an abuse of market power to be expected? What is the division of labor between cartel authorities and regulatory agencies? The book develops an analytical framework for all network industries which allows readers to study entrepreneurial strategies as well as regulation and competition policies for network industries.