We empirically investigate the nature and outcomes of the liberalization process in European telecommunications. First, we show that decisions to liberalize a country's telecommunications sector have followed a path-dependent and... more
We empirically investigate the nature and outcomes of the liberalization process in European telecommunications. First, we show that decisions to liberalize a country's telecommunications sector have followed a path-dependent and cumulative pace. Moreover, we investigate the extent to which path dependency might have forced liberalizations, regardless of the creation of complementary institutions governing pro-market outcomes. We find that the impact of liberalizations on competition is strongly enhanced by the establishment of complementary institutions, such as the national regulatory authority. Our findings contribute to the existing literature by outlining the role played by path dependency and institutional complementarities in the process of European liberalization. Our conclusions may provide useful lessons for the optimal policy design of pro-market policies in those European network industries that still wait for substantial liberalization.
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT ASA is a regulatory framework that allows for licensed sharing of underutilised spectrum by a limited number of rights holders through an individual authorisation scheme. There is significant momentum for ASA can be implemented... more
ABSTRACT ASA is a regulatory framework that allows for licensed sharing of underutilised spectrum by a limited number of rights holders through an individual authorisation scheme. There is significant momentum for ASA can be implemented rapidly in Europe under the existing EU regulatory framework for electronic communications, taking advantage of actual technological options and meeting the rise of mobile broadband that is posing new challenges to Administrations worldwide. Through ASA, Europe has the opportunity to take the lead and to explore new paths of optimal spectrum exploitation, reaping the benefits of the mobile internet revolution for industry and consumers in Europe and globally.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
text may be downloaded only for personal research purposes. Additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copies or electronically, requires the consent of the author(s), editor(s). If cited or quoted, reference should be... more
text may be downloaded only for personal research purposes. Additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copies or electronically, requires the consent of the author(s), editor(s). If cited or quoted, reference should be made to the full name of the author(s), editor(s), the title, the working paper, or other series, the year and the publisher.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Business and Legislation
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This report presents the results and the methodology of the Media Pluralism Monitor 2015 implementation, which measures risks to Media Pluralism in 19 EU countries, namely, Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany,... more
This report presents the results and the methodology of the Media Pluralism Monitor 2015 implementation, which measures risks to Media Pluralism in 19 EU countries, namely, Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden. The Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) is a tool for assessing the risks for media pluralism in a given country by assessing the risks for media pluralism based on a set of indicators that cover four different domains: Basic Protection, Market Plurality, Political Independence and Social Inclusiveness. The Monitor aims to help policymakers, researchers, and civil society to understand the threat to media pluralism in different media systems through research, analysis and the provision of country data.
Research Interests:
On 28 June, 2018, the Florence Competition Programme (FCP) and the Communications and Media Area of the Florence School of Regulation (FSR C&M) of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS), jointly organised with Bird & Bird... more
On 28 June, 2018, the Florence Competition Programme (FCP) and the Communications and Media Area of the Florence School of Regulation (FSR C&M) of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS), jointly organised with Bird & Bird LLP, a workshop in Brussels. The title of the event was ‘EU Competition Law vs Sector Regulation in Shaping the Digital Single Market. Back to the Future?’. The workshop aimed to discuss the interaction of competition policy and sector-specific regulation in the context of the Digital Single Market (DSM) Strategy that was adopted by the European Commission in May 2015. It included two panels, which dealt, respectively, with the concerns expressed by regulators on geo-blocking and the revision of the European Commission’s Guidelines on Significant Market Power (SMP) in the electronic communications sector. The event gathered representatives from National Competition Authorities (NCAs), the European Commission, academia, industry, as well as law and e...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Economics and Regulation
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT ASA is a regulatory framework that allows for licensed sharing of underutilised spectrum by a limited number of rights holders through an individual authorisation scheme. There is significant momentum for ASA can be implemented... more
ABSTRACT ASA is a regulatory framework that allows for licensed sharing of underutilised spectrum by a limited number of rights holders through an individual authorisation scheme. There is significant momentum for ASA can be implemented rapidly in Europe under the existing EU regulatory framework for electronic communications, taking advantage of actual technological options and meeting the rise of mobile broadband that is posing new challenges to Administrations worldwide. Through ASA, Europe has the opportunity to take the lead and to explore new paths of optimal spectrum exploitation, reaping the benefits of the mobile internet revolution for industry and consumers in Europe and globally.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
We empirically investigate the nature and outcomes of the liberalization process in European telecommunications. First, we show that decisions to liberalize a country's telecommunications sector have followed a path-dependent and... more
We empirically investigate the nature and outcomes of the liberalization process in European telecommunications. First, we show that decisions to liberalize a country's telecommunications sector have followed a path-dependent and cumulative pace. Moreover, we investigate the extent to which path dependency might have forced liberalizations, regardless of the creation of complementary institutions governing pro-market outcomes. We find that the impact of liberalizations on competition is strongly enhanced by the establishment of complementary institutions, such as the national regulatory authority. Our findings contribute to the existing literature by outlining the role played by path dependency and institutional complementarities in the process of European liberalization. Our conclusions may provide useful lessons for the optimal policy design of pro-market policies in those European network industries that still wait for substantial liberalization.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In the last 10–15 years the Internet has severely impacted the postal and delivery market: the volume of letters declined, the need for parcel delivery increased, the costumers’ needs changed. Postal Operators (POs) have started... more
In the last 10–15 years the Internet has severely impacted the postal and delivery market: the volume of letters declined, the need for parcel delivery increased, the costumers’ needs changed. Postal Operators (POs) have started diversifying their businesses and delivery services companies have updated and readdressed their quality of service and their offers.
This report presents the phenomena of media freedom and pluralism and the major academic and policy debates about their social, political, economic role and implications. It highlights the importance of media freedom and pluralism for the... more
This report presents the phenomena of media freedom and pluralism and the major academic and policy debates about their social, political, economic role and implications. It highlights the importance of media freedom and pluralism for the functioning, sustainability and legitimacy of a democratic regime, and therefore the necessity for relevant policy actions. The text also provides a state of the art perspective on the measuring and evaluating of media pluralism. It analyses major aspects of media economics and ownership, including the tendency to media concentration, the potential relationship between pluralism and the increased number of sources of supply, the impact of emerging "Internet native" media players, and globalisation. The legal core of the report examines the development of the debate on legal instruments and jurisprudence, as well as those EU legal instruments that are currently available to tackle the areas of media pluralism and media freedom. Following o...
Research Interests:
In the context of standards development, the current mechanism of negotiation of FRAND royalties frequently brings to undesirable litigation. This is mainly due to the fact that a relevant part of the information concerning the standard,... more
In the context of standards development, the current mechanism of negotiation of FRAND royalties frequently brings to undesirable litigation. This is mainly due to the fact that a relevant part of the information concerning the standard, required to stipulate complete license contracts, is revealed only after the standard itself has spread in the market. In this respect, we propose a litigation-reducing algorithm to determine the FRAND level of the licensing royalty. Unlike the current negotiation mechanism, this algorithm can be defined ex-ante, so to increase contract completeness, because it includes a Bayesian-updating rule, able to address the presence of ex-ante uncertainty. We derive the algorithm from a generic oligopolistic-competition model, so to deliver characteristics of applicability to both price and quantity competition. Simulations in a linear-Cournot framework suggest the algorithm calculates FRAND royalties and may be usefully applied to real-life cases.
On 17 January 2011, the European Commission launched , a monitoring exercise of patent settlements in the pharmaceutical sector for the second time after the Pharmaceutical sector inquiry of 2009. As was the case for the first monitoring... more
On 17 January 2011, the European Commission launched , a monitoring exercise of patent settlements in the pharmaceutical sector for the second time after the Pharmaceutical sector inquiry of 2009. As was the case for the first monitoring exercise launched in January 2010, a number of pharmaceutical companies were asked to submit copies of their patent settlement agreements concluded in the European Economic Area (EEA), together with any relevant annex, amendment or related agreement. The rationale for the monitoring exercise derives from some of the findings of the Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry, which had highlighted the possibility that some of the agreements reached by originators and generics to settle IP-related disputes (generally believed to be efficiency-enhancing tools to save money on litigation costs), may in fact turn out to have anticompetitive effects on the market. This is particularly the case for so-called “reverse payment agreements”. These are settlements that involve a payment (in direct or indirect form) flowing in a direction that intuitively appears “reverse”, as money is paid by the patent holder (the originator) to the alleged infringer – a generic firm.