This paper examines a Waste Management Organisation's (WMO) pricing options to implement the Pareto-efficient allocation in an economy where materials are first extracted, then used for producing a consumption good and finally recycled or landfilled. The WMO is established by the producers who are responsible for the proper disposal of consumption waste which consists of a mix of materials. Tha...

A new class of access pricing problems is analyzed, in which upstream firms compete for customers and access to these customers is required by downstream markets. Using fixed-to-cellular calls as an example, a model is presented which shows that the determination of cellular termination charges is quite different to standard access pricing problems. Competition between cellular firms leads to a...

Credit and especially debit card transactions are on the rise worldwide. Interchange fees are an integral part of the pricing structure of credit and debit card transactions. Indirectly paid by merchants to card issuers, interchange fees in most countries are set by credit and debit card networks. But in one country, Australia, the central bank is regulating interchange fees, and in several oth...

Bank fees often strike fear in the heart of the average banking customer. According to a survey by Bank-rate, a company that reports on banks and banking, customers continue to get smashed with higher fees, ranging from ATM charges to minimum-balance fees. In addition, some customers are even charged a commission fee just to speak to a real live bank teller! In a recent checking account pricing...

This paper examines the effects of licensing conditions, in particular of spectrum fees, on the pricing and diffusion of mobile communications services. Seemingly exorbitant sums paid for 3G licenses in the UK, Germany in 2000 and similarly high fees paid by U.S. carriers in the re-auctioning of PCS licenses early in 2001 raised concerns as to the impacts of the market entry regime on the mobil...