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By John E. Kwoka, Jr., (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1996) 189 pages, ISBN 0-7923-9843-2. Kwoka's book presents a comprehensive and timely study of the electric utility industry. He examines the impacts [...]

I. INTRODUCTION Economies of scale and related technical characteristics of electric generation have been shown to be important in a variety of studies. Nerlove (1973), Christensen and Greene (1976), and [...]

Ten years after Roberts's (1986) study of electric power procurement and delivery utilities, they have evolved into significant players in the industry restructuring debate. This study uncovers new evidence on cost efficiency, and provides evidence on the separability of the stages of production. Analysis of 1977 to 1992 data shows increasing cost efficiency in delivering power to a given customer base. However, the costs of network expansion offset these savings. Tests of the ability to analyze the production stages of vertically integrated firms show that although separability is rejected, it appears that they are evolving separate technologies., I. INTRODUCTION The current flurry of electric utility industry restructuring initiatives is the result of either individual utilities seeking increased marketing opportunities, or regulators seeking to reduce significant rate differences [...]

Government reports indicate that regulations have been ineffective in improving quality of care in many nursing homes. Some analysts feel that litigation against nursing homes may be the result of quality problems that are monitored during the inspection process, some contend litigation merely causes quality problems by diverting financial resources away from patient care, and some argue that litigation is duplicating the efforts of the inspection process. Given that the relationship between litigation and inspection-oriented measures of quality is not clear, this article explores the relationship empirically. When a significant relationship is found, the empirical results suggest that litigation is associated with a decline in inspection-oriented measured quality in the nursing home facing the legal claim. In contrast, litigation against a chain has a very different relationship to firm-level quality, where firms within a chain that is being sued have higher levels of inspection-oriented quality. Our results suggest that legal claims may result from quality problems that go unmeasured during the inspection process, However, more research in this area is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the United States Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) state-level telephone penetration-rate data with both cross-sectional and time-series observations. Dependence of universal services promoting deployment and subscribership in unserved and underserved areas on improved FCC data.

Presents an economic framework that can be used to value electric power transmission assets. Components of transmission asset value; Factors that determine the size of the projected net revenue stream; How to improve operations and maintenance.

Addresses several questions and attempts to provide insights into the unique market for nuclear power. Information on the components of generation plant value; Discussion on experiences in the market for generation assets; View regarding the relative market value of non-nuclear and nuclear assets.

Compares and contrasts the cost functions of nuclear and fossil-fuel generation at the firm-level. Generation cost equation; Labor and capital input demand equations; Special characteristics and other technical constraints; Cost shares; Functional form; Separability tests; Economies of scale; Long-run costs; Input substitution; Efficiency and equity.

This study investigates whether the structure of customer rates for US electric utilities with nuclear power generation is significantly different from the rate structure of non-nuclear utilities. Using previous estimates of the marginal costs of generation by nuclear and fossil-fuel plants, and of transmission and distribution, tests are made to determine if pricing practices are similar in nuclear and non-nuclear jurisdictions. The results show that the rate structure for the nuclear utilities is inefficient, with industrial rates significantly higher than first-best or second-best pricing criteria allow, whereas the rates for non-nuclear utilities are second-best efficient, with a slight favouritism toward the industrial class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the views of the authors' in defense of the criticism of their paper on efficiency in nuclear power pricing. In the defense of the criticism that they have not accounted for the cost of nuclear waste disposal when estimating the price-efficiency of nuclear fuels, they argue that empirical cost studies generally exclude external costs because they are difficult to measure and evaluate. Nonsystematic errors, combined with the likelihood that the parties who determine the values often have a vested interest in the outcome, make such estimates unreliable.