Competition and Technical Change in the U.S. Telephone Industry

Abstract

First published in 1997. While local telephone companies still maintain their monopolistic position, rapid technological advance in telecommunications is destroying the established market structure in the local telephone industry. The U.S. Telecommunications Act of 1996 aimed at eliminating any legal barrier which has suppressed technically feasible local competition. This study attempts to provide pro-competitive evidence on the technological or cost structure of the U.S. local telephone industry. In particular, the study presents strong evidence against cost subadditivity of local telephone companies and shows that local telephone companies have been isolated from the disciplinary effects of competition in comparison with their competitive counterparts. The study not only has policy implications for entry and competition in local telephone markets, but also provides a new approach to the measurement of embodied technical change.