Description:
Das ifo Institut hat bereits zu Beginn des europäischen Liberalisierungsprozesses die Organisation von Regulierungsbehörden untersucht. Der vorliegende Report knüpft mit einem internationalen Vergleich der Regulierungsinstitutionen an diese Arbeiten an. Am Beispiel der Telekommunikationsindustrie werden die Auswirkungen veränderter Markt- und Wettbewerbsbedingungen auf das institutionelle Gefüge dieser Behörden analysiert.
In a prior study at the beginning of the European liberalisation process, the Ifo Institute analysed the organization of selected regulatory authorities. This report continues the earlier work with an international comparison of regulatory institutions. The influence of changing markets and increasing competition in telecommunications on the institutional structure of these authorities are analysed. The transition from monopoly market to a competitive market in telecommunications was fraught with problems. To solve these problems, independent regulatory authorities with the power to enact sector-specific regulations were set up in most countries for the purpose of overseeing the transition. In the Interconnection Directive, European authorities specified that sector-specific regulation would be a transitional measure. In the meantime, general economic conditions have changed drastically from the initial situation at the end of the 1990s: intense competition in all telecommunications markets, rapid technological development now characterize the decision-making environment at national regulatory authorities. The question arises as to whether these extremely dynamic and innovative processes in the telecommunications sector were accompanied by institutional adjustments of national regulatory authorities - adjustments that will eventually lead to market supervision by general competition authorities. This study will explore that question empirically as part of a review of institutions in eleven countries (Australia, Germany, Finland, France, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and Hungary). [...]