ERS Group economists have been active participants in many of the major public policy debates involving regulated industries over the past several decades.  Our professional staff and academic affiliates are leading authorities in auction design and in energy and telecommunications policy.  While we have special expertise in the network industries, we have also analyzed regulatory issues in many other industries, including those for banking, insurance, pharmaceuticals, and transportation. 

Auction design and bidder support Analysis of alternative regulatory proposals Stranded cost analysis Cost-benefit analysis Merger analysis Incentive regulation (e.g., price cap regulation) Analysis of bypass proposals		Pricing and rate design Access and interconnection pricing Cost and productivity measurement Retail unbundling Market power analysis Demand forecasting Natural resource valuation

ERS Group Evaluates Changes in Rules Governing Airline Computer Reservation Systems ERS Group Special Consultant R. Preston McAfee and Academic Affiliate Kenneth Hendricks of the University of Texas submitted a statement on behalf of Sabre, Inc. in a U.S. Department of Transportation rulemaking proceeding concerning airline computer reservation systems (CRSs). In their report, entitled "Evolution of the Market for Air Travel Information," Professors Hendricks and McAfee examined the economic consequences of proposed regulation on both independent and airline-owned CRSs. In developing recommendations, the report addressed the emergence of the Internet as an independent source of information about air travel and the increasing use of that channel to bypass traditional travel agents and CRSs.

ERS Group Addresses Cable Access Pricing Issues in Australia ERS Group economists were retained by a producer of content for pay television to assess proposals before the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission regarding the pricing of access to certain cable services. Our experts examined the appropriate method for determining the price access seekers should pay for the provision of analog pay television carriage services provided via broadband cable and the conditional access decoding services provided via set-top units.

ERS Group Evaluates Incentive Regulation Proposal for Air Traffic Control Services in the U.K. ERS Group was retained by the United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority to evaluate a proposal to adopt incentive regulation for air traffic control services. Currently, costs associated with these services account for a large portion of the total costs of air flights. ERS Group's report examined the economic theory related to price cap regulation and issues regarding the successful application of price caps to air traffic control services. The report also reviewed the performance of firms operating under price cap plans in other industries.

ERS Group Quantifies the Benefits and Costs of Generic Entry in Pharmaceuticals ERS Group's professional staff examined the benefits and costs of the Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984 and proposed modifications to its rules regarding the entry of generic competitors in markets for pharmaceuticals.

ERS Group Addresses Municipalization Proposals in Electric Power ERS Group Director Michael Doane examined the economic consequences of municipalities' attempts to condemn electric utility distribution systems to evade industry restructuring charges. Mr. Doane's analysis examined more than forty municipalization proposals and their relationship to restructuring requirements imposed by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The effect of the municipalization proposals on existing risk-sharing arrangements and industry costs was also investigated.

ERS Group Examines Benefits and Costs of Vacating the Consent Decree in U.S. v. AT&T On behalf of all Regional Bell Operating Companies, ERS Group experts quantified the consumer welfare gains likely to result from entry into long-distance markets by local phone companies.

	Paul W. MacAvoy and Michael A. Williams (2002). Deregulation of Entry in Long-Distance Telecommunications  Michigan State University Press.

	Simon J. Wilkie (forthcoming). Open Networks, the Roles of Regulation and Competition.  Journal of Telecommunications and High Technology Law

	Michael J. Doane, R. Preston McAfee, and Michael A. Williams (2005). Evaluating and Enhancing Competition in the Interstate Natural Gas Transportation Industry.  Natural Resources Journal

	R. Preston McAfee, Michael J. Doane, and Kenneth Hendricks (2003). Evolution of the Market for Air-Travel Information.  In Michael R. Baye (Ed.),  Organizing the New Industrial Economy Elsevier.

	Dennis L. Weisman and Michael A. Williams (2001). The Costs and Benefits of Long-Distance Entry: Regulation and Non-Price Discrimination.  Review of Industrial Organization

	Michael J. Doane, David S. Sibley, and Michael A. Williams (1999). Having Your Cake - How to Preserve Universal-Service Cross Subsidies While Facilitating Competitive Entry.  Yale Journal on Regulation

	Michael J. Doane and Daniel F. Spulber (1997). Opportunism and Bypass in Electric Power.  Energy Law Journal

	Michael J. Doane and Paul W. MacAvoy (1997). Transmission Access Pricing and ‘Non-bypassable’ Competitive Transition Charges.  Natural Resources Journal

	Michael J. Doane, Ernst R. Berndt, and Roy J. Epstein (1996). System Average Rates and Management Efficiency: A Statistical Benchmark Study of U.S. Investor-Owned Electric Utilities.  The Energy Journal

	Paul W. MacAvoy, Michael J. Doane, and Michael A. Williams (1996). Four Decades of Regulatory Reform of the Gas Industry.  Oil and Gas Tax Quarterly

	Michael J. Doane and Mark Egland (1995). Environmental Damages.  Services Handbook (2nd Ed.).

	Michael J. Doane and Michael A. Williams (1995). Competitive Entry into Regulated Monopoly Services and the Resulting Problem of Stranded Costs.  The Hume Papers on Public Policy

	Michael J. Doane and Daniel F. Spulber (1994). Open Access and the Evolution of the U.S. Spot Market for Natural Gas.  Journal of Law and Economics