Telephone Rates Research Articles

Role of Negotiation in Purchasing and Procurement in Malaysia

Purpose: The study sought to analyze the role of negotiation in purchasing and procurement in Malaysia 
 Methodology: The research was conducted entirely on computers. Secondary data, or data that doesn't require actual observation in the field, are the focus of desk research. Because it requires little more than an executive's time, telephone rates, and directories, desk research is generally seen as a low-cost strategy in comparison to field research. As a result, the research used data that had already been collected and reported. This secondary data was readily available via the internet's digital library and scholarly articles.
 Findings: The results show that negotiation plays an important role in the purchasing and procurement process in Malaysia. Negotiation allows buyers and sellers to come to an agreement that is mutually beneficial and ensures that the transaction is successful. Negotiation allows buyers and sellers to come to an agreement on delivery times and other factors involved in the transaction. Ultimately, negotiation is an important part of the purchasing and procurement process in Malaysia, and it can help to create mutually beneficial agreements.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Future research in the field of purchasing and procurement may be grounded in the transaction cost theory and the distributive bargaining theory. Policymakers, researchers, and academics from all across the world will all stand to gain from this study's findings. Executives in charge of national purchasing and procurement initiatives will also use the study's findings to boost negotiations performance across the board. The research suggests that the purchasing and procurement sector should implement negotiation policies to boost the effectiveness of their primary operations and activities.

The Impact of Big Data on Purchasing and Procurement in Egypt

Purpose: The study sought to analyze the impact of big data on purchasing and procurement in Egypt.
 Methodology: The research was conducted entirely on computers. Secondary data, or data that doesn't require actual observation in the field, are the focus of desk research. Because it requires little more than an executive's time, telephone rates, and directories, desk research is generally seen as a low-cost strategy in comparison to field research. As a result, the research used data that had already been collected and reported. This secondary data was readily available via the internet's digital library and scholarly articles.
 Findings: The results show that in conclusion, big data has had a significant impact on the way businesses operate, particularly when it comes to purchasing and procurement. It provides businesses with valuable insights into their customers’ purchasing patterns and preferences. Big data is having a significant impact on purchasing and procurement in Egypt. It is enabling businesses, organizations and individuals to make more informed decisions, enhance efficiency and reduce costs
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Future research in the field of purchasing and procurement may be grounded in the behavioral theory and the resource dependency theory. Policymakers, researchers and academics from all across the world will all stand to gain from this study's findings. Executives in charge of national purchasing and procurement initiatives will also use the study's findings to boost the big data performance across the board. The research suggests that the purchasing and procurement sector should implement big data policies to boost the effectiveness of their primary operations and activities.

Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Purchasing and Procurement in South Korea

Purpose: The study sought to analyze the impact of artificial intelligence on purchasing and procurement in South Korea
 Methodology: The research was conducted entirely on computers. Secondary data, or data that doesn't require actual observation in the field, are the focus of desk research. Because it requires little more than an executive's time, telephone rates, and directories, desk research is generally seen as a low-cost strategy in comparison to field research. As a result, the research used data that had already been collected and reported. This secondary data was readily available via the internet's digital library and scholarly articles.
 Findings: The results show that the impact of AI on purchasing and procurement is significant. AI is used in automate manual tasks, reducing costs and improve accuracy. It also provides insights into purchasing and procurement processes that have previously been difficult to quantify. AI is a powerful tool that is used to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the purchasing and procurement process. South Korea is making great strides in the use of AI and the impact it is having on purchasing and procurement is clear.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Future research in the field of purchasing and procurement may be grounded in the rational economic theory and the resource based view theory. Policymakers, researchers, and academics from all across the world will all stand to gain from this study's findings. Executives in charge of national purchasing and procurement initiatives will also use the study's findings to boost artificial intelligence performance across the board. The research suggests that the purchasing and procurement sector should implement technological policies to boost the effectiveness of their primary operations and activities.

Impact of Globalization on Purchasing and Procurement in Jordan

Purpose: The study sought to analyze the impact of globalization on purchasing and procurement in Jordan.
 Methodology: The research was conducted entirely on computers. Secondary data, or data that doesn't require actual observation in the field, are the focus of desk research. Because it requires little more than an executive's time, telephone rates, and directories, desk research is generally seen as a low-cost strategy in comparison to field research. As a result, the research used data that had already been collected and reported. This secondary data was readily available via the internet's digital library and scholarly articles.
 Findings: The results show that globalization has had a major impact on purchasing and procurement, creating both opportunities and challenges. The procurement process has become more complex, with a greater focus on collaboration and long-term relationships with suppliers. Organizations must be prepared to adapt to these changes in order to remain competitive in a globalized world. In Jordan in Jordan, the country’s access to global markets, foreign investment, and technological advances have helped to integrate the country into the global economy.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Future research in the field of purchasing and procurement may be grounded in the global value chain theory and the transaction cost economics theory. Policymakers, researchers and academics from all across the world will all stand to gain from this study's findings. Executives in charge of national purchasing and procurement initiatives will also use the study's findings to boost the urbanization performance across the board. The research suggests that the purchasing and procurement sector should implement globalization policies to boost the effectiveness of their primary operations and activities.

Impact of Cost Reduction Strategies on Purchasing and Procurement in Mozambique

Purpose: The study sought to analyze the impact of cost reduction strategies on purchasing and procurement in Mozambique.
 Methodology: The research was conducted entirely on computers. Secondary data, or data that doesn't require actual observation in the field, are the focus of desk research. Because it requires little more than an executive's time, telephone rates, and directories, desk research is generally seen as a low-cost strategy in comparison to field research. As a result, the research used data that had already been collected and reported. This secondary data was readily available via the internet's digital library and scholarly articles.
 Findings: The results show that cost reduction strategies are effective ways of reducing costs associated with purchasing and procurement. Cost reduction strategies enables companies to reduce costs associated with materials, services, and labor, as well as reduce overhead costs. Additionally, strategic partnerships and the use of technology also help companies reduce costs and optimize their purchasing and procurement process. Overall, cost reduction strategies can be an effective way of reducing costs and improving efficiency.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Future research in the field of purchasing and procurement may be grounded in the competitive advantage theory and the supply chain theory. Policymakers, researchers and academics from all across the world will all stand to gain from this study's findings. Executives in charge of national purchasing and procurement initiatives will also use the study's findings to boost the cost reduction strategies performance across the board. The research suggests that the purchasing and procurement sector should implement cost reduction policies to boost the effectiveness of their primary operations and activities.

The Impact of Globalization on Strategic Management in Lebanon

Purpose: The study sought to analyze the impact of globalization on strategic management in Lebanon.
 Methodology: The research was conducted entirely on desktop review method. Secondary data, or data that doesn't require actual observation in the field, are the focus of desk research. Because it requires little more than an executive's time, telephone rates, and directories, desk research is generally seen as a low-cost strategy in comparison to field research. As a result, the research used data that had already been collected and reported. Secondary sources such as internet journals and libraries made this information readily available.
 Findings: The results show that the impact of globalization on strategic management is far reaching and has changed the way managers view their roles and responsibilities, the way they think about strategy, and the way they go about developing and implementing strategies. They must also be able to effectively manage resources and operations across multiple countries, as well as develop strategies that are tailored to different global markets. Globalization has led to an increase in competition, a shift in the way organizations approach their customers and markets, and the availability of resources and information. Organizations in Lebanon can leverage the opportunities created by globalization in several ways such as focusing on customer segmentation, leveraging new technologies and expanding their operations in new markets.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: It is possible that the theories of globalization of markets and transaction costs will serve as the foundation for future research in the field of strategic management. Policymakers, researchers, and academics from all across the world will all stand to gain from this study's findings. The country's senior strategic management executives will also use the study's conclusions to boost globalization across the board. The study suggests that urbanization firms increase the effectiveness of their primary operations and activities by adopting strategic management principles.

Impact of Culture on Strategic Management in Japan

Purpose: The study sought to analyze the impact of culture on strategic management in Japan
 Methodology: The research was conducted entirely on desktop review method. Secondary data, or data that doesn't require actual observation in the field, are the focus of desk research. Because it requires little more than an executive's time, telephone rates, and directories, desk research is generally seen as a low-cost strategy in comparison to field research. As a result, the research used data that had already been collected and reported. This secondary data was readily available via the internet's digital library and scholarly articles.
 Findings: The results show that culture has a significant impact on strategic management. It can influence the types of information managers rely on when making decisions, the way managers interact with their employees, and the strategies they ultimately choose to pursue. Thus, it is important for managers to be aware of the cultural context in which they are operating and to consider how their decisions and strategies may be affected by the prevailing culture.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Future research in the field of strategic management may be grounded in the configurational theory and the institutional theory. Policymakers, researchers, and academics from all across the world will all stand to gain from this study's findings. Executives in charge of national strategic management initiatives will also use the study's findings to boost cultural performance across the board. The research suggests that the cultural sector should implement strategic management policies to boost the effectiveness of their primary operations and activities.

Role of Leadership in Strategic Management in Nigeria

Purpose: The study sought to analyze the role of leadership in strategic management in Nigeria
 Methodology: The research was conducted entirely on desktop review methoods. Secondary data, or data that doesn't require actual observation in the field, are the focus of desk research. Because it requires little more than an executive's time, telephone rates, and directories, desk research is generally seen as a low-cost strategy in comparison to field research. As a result, the research used data that had already been collected and reported. Secondary sources such as internet journals and libraries made this information readily available.
 Findings: The results show that Leadership is a critical element of strategic management. Leaders are responsible for setting the direction, vision and culture of the organization. They must also be able to develop and execute plans to achieve the organization’s objectives. Leaders in Nigeria must be able to anticipate, plan, lead, motivate and manage change. They must be able to develop strategies that are aligned with the organization’s objectives, and that will enable the organization to achieve a competitive advantage. They must also be able to effectively manage risk, create an environment of performance and excellence, and create a culture of trust and collaboration.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Future research in the field of strategic management may employ the transformational leadership theory and the contingency leadership theory as a foundation. Policymakers, researchers, and academics from all across the world will all stand to gain from this study's findings. The study's findings will also be used by the country's top strategic management executives to boost the effectiveness of their teams' leadership across the board. Effective strategic management policies in the leadership are advocated for in the study as a means to boost efficiency across key operations and activities.

Impact of Social Media on Strategic Management in Morocco

Purpose: The study sought to analyze the impact of social media on strategic management in Morocco
 Methodology: The research was conducted entirely on desktop review method. Secondary data, or data that doesn't require actual observation in the field, are the focus of desk research. Because it requires little more than an executive's time, telephone rates, and directories, desk research is generally seen as a low-cost strategy in comparison to field research. As a result, the research used data that had already been collected and reported. This secondary data was readily available via the internet's digital library and scholarly articles.
 Findings: The results show that social media has had a profound impact on strategic management. It has enabled organizations to identify and capitalize on opportunities, manage risks, and increase efficiency. By leveraging the power of social media, organizations can gain valuable insights into their customers, competitors, and the market, enabling them to make more informed and effective decisions. Social media has become an increasingly important part of the business landscape and its impact on strategic management in Morocco has been profound.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Future research in strategic management may be grounded in either the resource based view theory or the network based view theory. Policymakers, researchers, and academics from all across the world will all stand to gain from this study's findings. The study's findings will also be used by the country's top strategic management executives to boost the effectiveness of social media across all of their operations and initiatives. According to the research, social media organizations may boost their productivity in key areas by adopting rules for dealing with conflicts.

Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in Strategic Management in Cambodia

Purpose: The study sought to analyze the role of corporate social responsibility in strategic management in Cambodia
 Methodology: The research was conducted entirely on desktop review method. Secondary data, or data that doesn't require actual observation in the field, are the focus of desk research. Because it requires little more than an executive's time, telephone rates, and directories, desk research is generally seen as a low-cost strategy in comparison to field research. As a result, the research used data that had already been collected and reported. This secondary data was readily available via the internet's digital library and scholarly articles.
 Findings: The results show that corporate social responsibility is an important part of the strategic management process and can be used to create value for stakeholders and create competitive advantage. Companies build trust and reputation and create positive relationships with customers, suppliers and investors. It is clear, therefore, that CSR plays an important role in the strategic management process and is essential for business success. CSR is an increasingly important concept in strategic management in Cambodia. There are a number of initiatives that businesses operating in the country can undertake to ensure that their operations are socially responsible and beneficial to the environment.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Future research in strategic management may be grounded in theories like stakeholder theory and legitimacy theory. Policymakers, researchers, and academics from all across the world will all stand to gain from this study's findings. The findings of the study will also be used by the country's top strategic management executives to boost the effectiveness of their organizations' programs and initiatives related to corporate social responsibility. According to the findings, the corporate governance sector would benefit from adopting strategic management strategies that have been shown to increase the effectiveness of key operations and activities.

Federal Subsidies and Broadband Competition

Debate over U.S. broadband policy has largely shifted away from mere availability, toward the degree of competition among service providers, and effects on price and quality, in distinct regional markets. By far the largest sustained effort to increase broadband provision in the United States has been the so-called schools and library subsidy system, funded by the telephone rate payer through the Universal Service Fund, and administered by a private industry consortium. In December 2014, the FCC issued an e-Rate modernization order that increased the annual funding limit for the e-Rate program by 63%, to $3.9 billion annually, and shifting if further from supporting legacy telecommunications systems, and toward provision of high speed broadband within schools, including in particular an emphasis on support for internal wireless internet infrastructure within schools. One rationale for expansion of the e-Rate subsidy program voiced by advocates has been that it would also create spillover benefits for neighborhoods served by recipient schools, by enabling scale economies in the provision of broadband services to neighborhoods by new providers. This paper undertakes a rigorous empirical evaluation of this argument using a rich panel data set assembled from multiple sources. Using these data to control for a variety of economic, social, and demographic factors that might shift demand, as well as local factors that might shift the costs of network and service provision, I examine whether the pre-2014 e-Rate program had an identifiable and statistically significant impact on the evolution of broadband competition at the individual U.S. zip code level over the period 2005-2008. The impact of a much smaller but much more focused program also funded by the Universal Service Fund, the rural health center program, can also be evaluated, and provides a useful counterpoint in assessing the impact of these subsidy programs on the competition issue. One statistical problem faced in undertaking this evaluation is that FCC statistics on broadband provision by geographical locale censor reported data on the number of competitors when small numbers of providers are present. If observations with censored outcome variables are simply dropped, it is well understood that estimates of effects in a regression model will be biased. Using simulations, I test a multiple imputation method I have devised that exploits aggregate state level information on the distribution of the censored provider outcomes, and find that it performs well in removing censoring bias. Employing these methods with an econometric model, I conclude that the small but highly focused USF rural health center funding has had a statistically and economically significant impact on numbers of local broadband service providers, while the e-Rate program generally did not in most areas. However, in the very poorest or most rural areas, there is some evidence that the e-Rate program had a small, but statistically significant impact in stimulating greater competition in broadband service provision.

A Critical Friendship: Donald Justice & Richard Stern, 1946–1961 ed. by Elizabeth Murphy (review)

Reviewed by: A Critical Friendship: Donald Justice & Richard Stern, 1946–1961 ed. by Elizabeth Murphy Willard Spiegelman (bio) Elizabeth Murphy, ed., A Critical Friendship: Donald Justice & Richard Stern, 1946–1961 (University of Nebraska Press, 2013), 296 pp. Going through A Critical Friendship, one may wonder who will read and profit from this collection of letters tracing the opening chapter in a lifelong friendship between poet Donald Justice and novelist Richard Stern. I can think of several audiences for this slim volume, fewer than 200 pages of letters between men who met in 1944 in Chapel Hill, when Stern (1928-2013) and Justice (1925-2004) were still teenagers. Readers, friends, and fans of the writers, to start with; students of post-War American culture; and anyone interested in how a writer finds himself by finding both his voice and his audience, his best reader, his alter ego, his mirrored self. Their epistolary relationship was made possible only because the men lived apart from each other for decades, following their student years at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. In today’s age of cheap telephone rates, Skype, and Facebook, correspondence like this looks like a piece of technology as remote as vellum. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and it also—until two decades ago—made collections of letters an inevitability, especially for aspiring writers starting out, flexing their intellectual muscle, eager for approval, success and, most necessary, soul mates. This volume covers 1946–1961, the year of the men’s first books, Justice’s The Summer Anniversaries and Stern’s Golk. Before their maiden speeches, during their literary apprenticeship, we have evidence of academic adventures—at Stanford, Iowa, Harvard, and elsewhere—and their initial forays into the marketplace, their attempts at getting published. First came rejections, then encouragement, nibbles, and, finally, acceptances. The volume has its drawbacks. Above all, neither Justice nor Stern can engage us with the same intensity, far-ranging intellect, passion, powers of observation, and wit of—to take a few of the obvious examples—Keats, Byron, Woolf, Elizabeth Bishop, James Merrill (whose letters, when eventually published, will set the bar very high for everyone else), and even Amy Clampitt. Justice and Stern are not, as young men, great epistolary stylists. It’s unclear whether future volumes are in the offing, but it will be interesting to see, if so, whether they will develop our sense of the Justice-Stern relationship. The Elizabeth Bishop-Robert Lowell letters are the gold standard for this kind of thing. But Justice and Stern have the energy, fervor, and strong opinions of youth in their favor. (At one point, almost halfway through the book, Stern announces: “We are getting old. I can vote now, and don’t deserve to.”) They exchange hopes and fears, manuscripts, literary gossip, but little in-depth speculation or soul-searching. They were probably not aiming for this; they had more mundane matters on their minds. But we can be grateful to have a window on a particular moment in our literary culture. The men, and some women, from the “greatest generation” had returned from World War II; the GI Bill was opening the most expansive chapter in American higher education; [End Page 417] schools of literary thought and taste were developing across the country, matching the building of campuses; fellowships abounded. The so-called tedium of the Eisenhower decade had many advantages for artists. “Everyone has a Fulbright,” writes Stern to Justice in 1950. Someone should write an extended cultural history of American writers abroad, circa 1946-1960. Consider: the Continent had been off-limits to tourists for the better part of a decade. Writers like Lowell, Merrill, Clampitt, James Wright, and Adrienne Rich were finally able to visit the places that had filled their minds and formed their tastes as students, and artists-in-the making. Both Stern and Justice went abroad during these years, Justice less happily. They wrote to each other about these experiences. And they moved across this country as well. Stern went to Harvard, briefly, Justice to Stanford, then both did time in Iowa City, where Justice spent much of his later professional life. Professors of literature should think twice about complaining of...

The Effects of Legacy Pricing Regulation on Adoption of Broadband Service in the United States

We examine and document the effect of policy-relevant factors on broadband adoption. We focus on the role of the price of basic local service on broadband adoption, to determine whether and to what extent legacy telephone policies and associated pricing distortions interfere with the contemporary goal of increased broadband adoption. Legacy universal service policy suppressed basic local telephone rates for residential customers in some areas to below-cost levels, subsidized by a variety of other revenue sources, including switched access revenues, prices for non-basic features, and business rates. The economic theory supporting this policy was that lower prices for basic local service would encourage adoption of basic local service, encouraging universal connection to the public switched telephone network. Today, however, there is effectively universal subscription to some form of local telephone service, which may include wireless or wireline services that are provided at unregulated prices; and policy goals are transitioning away from promoting basic local service to promotion of universal broadband adoption.We hypothesize that subsidized prices for basic residential services depress broadband adoption decisions. There are two reasons that we anticipate such an effect. First, broadband service and stand-alone traditional voice service are economic substitutes insofar as consumers can use broadband for voice service by purchasing an over-the-top VoIP service. Second, some customers may purchase a stand-alone voice line only or primarily for dial-up Internet access, for which broadband service is a substitute. Hence, for both reasons, we would expect to find a positive relationship between the price of basic local service and broadband adoption, meaning that where basic local service prices are lower, broadband adoption is lower. Intuitively, the logic is that, for a given price of broadband, the higher is the price of stand-alone voice service, the lower is the price hurdle to adopting broadband instead. We test this theory using quarterly household-level data from the first quarter 2006 through the second-quarter 2010 for over 70,000 household observations. The data are from the nationwide TNS surveys and bill samples. Using a multinomial logit specification, we find that higher prices for basic local service are in fact associated with higher rates of broadband adoption, controlling for availability of broadband service, broadband expenditures, household income, age of the head of household, size of household, population density of the household’s location, race, and other factors. We find that the demographic variables have largely the expected effects consistent with the literature. We also find that once other demographic and price variables are controlled for, there is not a “rural” divide - that is, a household’s propensity to adopt broadband service is higher, all else equal, in less densely populated areas, controlling for income, broadband availability, and other factors. Our results regarding the pricing variables are consistent with the hypothesis that promoting legacy policy goals of universal voice service by holding retail prices of basic local service artificially low impedes the achievement of current policy goals of universal broadband adoption. We believe our results are important because, unlike the numerous demographic variables that are known to be correlated with broadband adoption, the price of basic local service is, in many areas, subject to regulatory control and is therefore a policy variable. Our results suggest that relieving restrictions on prices of basic local service would promote the federal policy of universal broadband adoption.

Simplified Modified Rankin Scale Questionnaire

The simplified modified Rankin Scale questionnaire (smRSq) enables a reliable and rapid determination of the modified Rankin Scale score after stroke. We test the reliability and validity of a slightly revised smRSq. Fifty consecutive outpatients 4.83 ± 3.00 months after stroke were scored with a slightly revised smRSq by 3 raters selected consecutively from a list of 10: 4 stroke faculty, 3 neurology residents, 2 medial students, and 1 stroke research coordinator. Two ratings were in person within 20 minutes of each other and 1 was by telephone 1 to 3 days later. The telephone rating also included a quality of life scale, the Short-Form-12v2. Each rater was blinded to the other raters' scores. The average estimated time to administer the smRSq was 1.29 minutes (range, 0.50 to 2.25 minutes). The in-person raters agreed 78% (κ=0.71; CI, 0.57 to 0.86 and weighted κ [κ(w)]=0.86; CI, 0.79 to 0.94). The first in-person and telephone raters agreed 82% (κ=0.76; CI, 0.63 to 0.90 and κ(w)=0.87; CI, 0.79 to 0.95). The second in-person and telephone rates agreed 82% (κ=0.77; CI, 0.63 to 0.90 and κ(w)=0.89; CI, 0.82 to 0.96). The smRSq correlated with the physical (r=-0.50, P=0.005) than the mental (r=-0.36, P=0.048) components of the Short-Form-12v2. The slightly revised smRSq appears to be useful in clinical stroke; it has excellent reliability in person and by telephone, can usually be administered in <1.5 minutes by a wide variety of raters, and correlates with quality of life.

Local telephone rate structure and telephone penetration: A universal service perspective

This article analyzes the relationships between local telephone rates, demographic factors and telephone penetration rates in rural Illinois. The results of the analysis suggest that monthly rate reductions increase telephone penetration rates more in areas with high poverty rates than in areas with lower poverty rates. These findings suggest that universal service programs designed to produce uniform telephone rates will be less effective in increasing penetration rates than will programs targeted at reducing monthly telephone rates in areas of high poverty.

Creating a national strategy for Internet development in Chile

A growing body of literature points to the importance of both economic and non-economic factors in reducing the digital divide. This paper examines Chile as a successful case where changes in government policies dramatically increased Internet access from about 2% of the population in 1998 to 23.8% in 2002. After reviewing the literature, the paper examines the debates in Chile over Internet development, tracing how public opinion was able to influence government policies, and how in turn, government policies increased Internet access. Specific policies include lowering telephone rates, connecting the various national networks, creating public access centers, and passing e-commerce legislation.

Drawing lessons from across the pond: the fungibility of US and British telephone regulation

English During the last two decades there has been an increasing amount of attention within policy studies to ‘lesson-drawing’ – a process through which governmental jurisdictions formulate policy by learning from the experiences of political actors in other times and places. While a substantial body of theoretical literature has been generated on the topic, insufficient attention has been paid to issues of ‘fungibility’ or adaptability of lessons from one context to another. The purpose of this article is to begin to fill in this gap in the literature by adapting and testing several fungibility hypotheses posited by Rose (1993) against a case study of US telephone rate regulation.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996: residential rates and competition

Increases in residential local telephone rates have occurred despite the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The regulators approve rate increases because the increases are deemed necessary to eliminate implicit subsidies. This paper, however, shows that residential customers are not receiving subsidies. In fact, the majority of residential customers are paying a subsidy to the carriers. The paper provides an alternative basis for determining residential rates. Finally, it discusses the fragile nature of competition and the regulatory structure that underlies the current competitive experiment.

Local telephone rate structures: before and after the Act

This paper examines how the structure of local telephone rates has changed in the four years following passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Data on local rates as they stood at the end of 1995 and in 2000 for the Bell Operating Companies in 45 states and the District of Columbia and estimates of wire-center-level costs from the Federal Communication Commission's cost model show that large urban-to-rural and business-to-residential inequities are embedded in local rates. In the average state, rates in its high-cost areas are lower than rates in its low-cost areas. This disparity in rates grows as the relative cost of serving a state's rural customers increases. Residential rates are equal to about one-half the business rate, holding costs constant. Interestingly, costs in outlying areas appear to have a larger impact on urban rates than the cost of serving urban customers. The evidence suggests that states are in the process of rebalancing business and residential rates. These efforts are more pronounced in states that allowed competition before 1996. The data suggest that the rebalancing process is incomplete.

Consumer Perception and Evaluation of Waiting Time: A Field Experiment

We varied telephone waiting times for a commercial service in 2 different experiments. In the 1st experiment, the telephone rate was either 0 or fixed at Dfl 1 (approximately $0.40) per minute. Consumer perceptions of waiting times could be described best by a psychophysical power function. Furthermore, wait evaluations were mainly influenced by the difference between the consumers’ acceptable and perceived waiting times. The negative effect of perceived waiting time on wait evaluations was increased by the monetary costs of waiting.In the 2nd experiment, the waiting times were filled in different ways: with music, queuing information, and information about expected waiting time. Information about the expected waiting time significantly reduced the overestimation of waiting time, although it increased the negative effect of perceived waiting time on wait evaluations.