Regulation and Service Provision in Dynamic Oligopoly: Evidence from Mobile Telecommunications
13 Nov 2024
15:00 -16:00
Times are shown in local time.
Open to: All
Castle Teaching Room (Cambridge Judge Business School)
Trumpington St
Cambridge
CB2 1AG
United Kingdom
Join our Economics and Policy seminar
Speaker: Dr Joao Granja, University College London
About the seminar topic
I study the effect of universal service regulation on the roll-out of new mobile telecommunications technologies by oligopolistic service providers. To this end, I develop a non-stationary dynamic game of entry and technology upgrade under regulation, which I estimate using new panel data on mobile technology availability in Brazilian municipalities.
I find that the regulation accelerated the introduction of 3G technology to a set of mostly rural municipalities by just under two years, on average, and reduced firms’ aggregate profits by 14.6%. Due to its asymmetric nature, the regulation can act as a commitment device and deter entry and technology upgrade, and the probability it does so is non-negligible.
A subsidy auction leads to a similar acceleration of 3G introduction and reduces the regulatory cost by 57%, likely increasing aggregate welfare.
Speaker bio
Joao Granja is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics at the University College London, working primarily on empirical industrial organisation.
Register
No registration required. If you have any questions about this seminar, please email Emily Brown.