We review recent empirical studies of the performance of incentive regulation in the telecommunications industry. These studies provide evidence that productivity, infrastructure investment, profit levels, telephone penetration, and new service offerings have increased under incentive regulation. Service rates have generally remained stable or decreased slightly, and service quality does not appear to have been affected adversely. There is no evidence that incentive regulation has led to streamlined regulatory proceedings. Strong evidence that incentive regulation has reduced the costs of providing telephone service has not yet materialized.
Madden and Simpspn (1997). With the aggressive marketing of cable modems and ADSL service, a growing number of residential households in the U.S. now have a choice regarding how they access the Internet. The choice set available, however, is not uniform. In some areas, the only form of access is through dial-up modem, while in other areas various forms of high-speed access (cable modems or ADSL) are available as well. This paper reports the results from a set of models of Internet access where the models are differentiated by the availability of Internet access options. The models are based on the analysis of surveys submitted by over 20,000 households during the period January-March, 2000. 2 Among other things, we are able to report broadband penetration rates and compare those to Internet access estimates presented in the NTIA Report, Falling Through the Net: Toward Digital Inclusion. 3 In addition, we present a more complete set of estimated price elasticities for both basic and high-speed access to the Internet.
The United States Golf Association (USGA) has invested more than US$45 million in turfgrass and environmental research since 1983. This effort has developed research-based management practices that have contributed to the efficient use of water, fertilizer, and pesticides on U.S. golf courses. Still, there is insufficient evidence of the economic benefits. Therefore, our objective was to estimate the golf industry's resource and economic benefits from the USGA's investment in water, fertilizer, and pesticide management research. Data were collected from an online survey focused on the benefits associated with golf facilities' adoption of research-based management practices in six primary areas of interest: (a) evapotranspiration-based irrigation scheduling (water budgeting), (b) soil moisture sensing, (c) best management practices that reduce nonpoint source pollution by fertilizers and pesticides, (d) putting green construction techniques, (e) naturalized roughs, and (f) improved turfgrass cultivars. Only the first three areas are discussed in this study. Based on data from the survey, multiple econometric models were developed for each of the management practices. All three research-based management practices have been widely adopted throughout the U.S. golf industry. Across the three management practices studied, modeling indicated a total annual financial benefit of US$1.03 billion to the golf industry. This compares with an estimated yearly Green Section budget of roughly US$10 million, of which US$2 million is for turfgrass and environmental research. Research investment by governments and industry leaders is critical to the sustainability of the golf industry.
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