Issue 2 October 2000
In this issue are the following articles:
Better the devil you own
Most of New Zealand's electricity distribution industry is owned by "energy trusts", yet the trusts' potential for resolving natural-monopoly problems seems to be largely unappreciated, according to recent research by Professors Lewis Evans and Neil Quigley.
The costs of telecommunications regulation
There is ample evidence that consumers have benefited from the new entry, technological change and improved levels of service that have been associated with New Zealand's light-handed regulatory regime for telecommunications.
E-Tail therapy: Cool, but not quite the real thing
Bronwyn Howell uses a virtual crystal ball to look into the future of shopping.
Telecom's "Kiwi Share" Do consumers still need it?
The Kiwi Share imposed on Telecom New Zealand Ltd. when it was privatised in 1990 was to some extent a political construct. The Government was planning to sell New Zealand's largest company, and the consumer protections in the Kiwi Share helped make that more palatable, writes Prof. Lewis Evans, Executive Director of ISCR.
North America's value-laden mergers policy
Businesses in the United States and Canada are facing new uncertainties as they adjust to changes in how economic efficiency is taken into account when regulators consider merger proposals, Prof. Frank Mathewson writes from Canada.
Author:
Frank Mathewson
A New Zealand prospective on the efficiencies defence
New Zealand's current competition laws, like Canada's, are relatively new. The Commerce Act (the "Act") and Canada's Competition Act were both passed in 1986. New Zealand's law recognises the "efficiencies defence" described by Prof. Mathewson in his article in this newsletter, but applies it in a special context, writes Mark Berry and Michael Pickford.
Authors:
Mark Berry, Mike Pickford
Should collusion be illegal when it improves economic effeciency?
Economic efficiency was increased by collusion relating to the removal of a free car wash offer in Auckland, argue Professors Lewis Evans and Neil Quigley. They suggest that punishing collusion that increases economic efficiency calls into question the deeming provisions of section 30 of the Commerce Act, and the validity of a process that considers harm when assessing the penalty, but not when deciding liability.
domainnameportabilityissue.co.nz
Proposed changes to the governance of the Internet in New Zealand might give undue power to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and may fall foul of the Commerce Act, a study by ISCR has found.
