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1、ReviewofIndustrialOrganization(2006)29:127–147©Springer2006DOI10.1007/s11151-006-9112-xTheRoleofCompetitioninNaturalMonopoly:Costs,PublicOwnership,andRegulationJOHNE.KWOKA∗DepartmentofEconomics,NortheasternUniversity,301LakeHall,Boston,MA02115,USAAbstract.Conventionalpolicyforindustrieswithver
2、yhigheconomiesofscaleistoper-mitmonopolybuttosubjectittoregulationorpublicownership.Sincethelattermaynotresultincostminimization,however,itispossiblethatcompetition,byforcingfirmstooperateatthecostfrontier,maybelesscostlydespitesacrificingsomescaleecono-mies.Thepapersetsouttherelevantanalyticalc
3、onsiderations,estimatesacostfunctionforelectricdistributionutilitiesintheU.S.,andtestsfortherelativecostsofmonopolyandduopolyutilities.Amongothernotablefindings,itconcludesthatcompetitiondoesindeedlowernetcosts.Keywords:Benchmarkcompetition,electricutilities,publicownership,regulation.I.Introdu
4、ctionAlthoughtherelationshipbetweencompetitionandpricereceivesmoreattention,theeffectofcompetitiononcostsmaybeatleastasimpor-tant.Bysomemeasurestheefficienciesgainedfromthelatterexceedal-locativeimprovementsduetopricecompetition(SchererandRoss,1990,p.672),andinanyevent,costreductionsareonereaso
5、nforpricedeclines.Allthismakescostcompetitionseemuniversallyadvantageous,butwhereproductiontechnologyischaracterizedbysignificanteconomiesofscale,classicalcompetitioninvolvingmultiplefirmswouldseemtobeanunprom-isingapproach:Competitionmayforcefirmstominimizecostforagivenoutputandthusoperateatthec
6、ostfrontier,buteachfirmproduceslessoutput,failstoachieveminimumefficientscale,andsuffersexcessunitcost.Forthisreason,thepreservationofmultiplefirmsofsuboptimalscaleisscarcelyeverendorsedasgoodpolicy.Thatconclusionmaybetoofacile,however,fortworeasons.First,thetrade-offbetweenacloserapproximationto
7、thecostfrontierandthe∗Authorforcorrespondence:Tel.:617-373-2252;Fax:617-373-3640;E-mail:j.kwoka@neu.edu128JOHNE.KWOKAsacrificeofscaleeconomiesisanempiricalquestion,andnotonethatnecessarilyfavorsthefull-scalemonopolyfirmwithitsexcesscosts.
