The Economics of Postal Service

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

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2. Introduction and Institutional Background

   • Michael A. Crew, Paul R. Kleindorfer

   Pages 1-13

3. Welfare Economic Foundations

   • Michael A. Crew, Paul R. Kleindorfer

   Pages 15-34

4. Deterministic Models for Postal Service Pricing

   • Michael A. Crew, Paul R. Kleindorfer

   Pages 35-59

5. Stochastic Models of Postal Service Pricing

   • Michael A. Crew, Paul R. Kleindorfer

   Pages 61-91

6. Regulation

   • Michael A. Crew, Paul R. Kleindorfer

   Pages 93-117

7. Competition and Technological Change

   • Michael A. Crew, Paul R. Kleindorfer

   Pages 119-143

8. Conclusions, Implications for Policy, and Future Research

   • Michael A. Crew, Paul R. Kleindorfer

   Pages 145-149

9. Back Matter

   Pages 151-162

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Postal service has received considerably less attention in the economics literature than traditional public utilities. Postal service is facing some very important challenges arising out of the increasingly high-tech nature of postal service, the entry of competition into the business, and new attitudes on the part of government to postal service. In the United Kingdom and Germany the increased interest in privatization and recognition of the benefits of competition are likely to have an impact on postal service. These challenges mean that postal managers must learn new ways of doing business, not just in successfully introducing new hardware and in new internal operating procedures, but also in the development of new pricing and costing methodologies and in the introduction of new management information systems.
In order to deal with these new developments managers need a solid foundation in applied microeconomic theory as it relates to postal service. This book encompasses the theoretical foundation for postal policy, particularly with regard to pricing, service quality, and competitive issues.

• Microeconomic Theory
• competition
• microeconomics
• regulation

• Graduate School of Management, Rutgers University, Newark, USA

  Michael A. Crew

• Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA

  Paul R. Kleindorfer

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