Abstract
Samuel Johnson said Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel and many postal observers believe that the Universal Service Obligation (USO) is the last refuge of a postal service wishing to protect inefficiency, monopoly profits, or economic rents. Despite inefficient service, opaque accounts, and large rents, many postal officials maintain that the monopoly, whatever its faults, is the only means of ensuring universal, affordable postal service for citizens throughout the nation. Without the monopoly, they argue, the post office would be crushed by the cost of the USO. This paper examines when this argument might be valid.
The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Poste Italiane or the Postal Rate Commission.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Berthélémy, Francoise L., and Joëlle Toledano. 2000. “In France, Mail Goes Where the Money and Businesses Are.” In Current Directions in Postal Reform, edited by Michael A. Crew and Paul R. Kleindorfer. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Bradley, Michael D., and Jeff Colvin. 2000. “Measuring the Cost of Universal Service for Posts.” In Current Directions in Postal Reform, edited by Michael A. Crew and Paul R. Kleindorfer. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Cohen, Robert H., William W. Ferguson, John D. Waller, and Spyros S. Xenakis. 1999. “An Analysis of the Potential for Cream Skimming in the United States Residential Delivery Market.” In Emerging Competition in Postal and Delivery Services, edited by Michael A. Crew and Paul R. Kleindorfer. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Cohen, Robert H., William W. Ferguson, John D. Waller, and Spyros S. Xenakis. 2000. “Universal Service without a Monopoly.” In Current Directions in Postal Reform, edited by Michael A. Crew and Paul R. Kleindorfer. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Cohen, Robert H., William W. Ferguson, John D. Waller and Spyros S. Xenakis. 2001 “The Impact of Using Worksharing to Liberalize a Postal Market.” Papers presented at Wissenschaftliches Institut für Kommunikationsdienste GmbH, 6th Köenigswinter Seminar on Postal Economics, Liberalization of Postal Markets.
Crew, Michael A., and Paul R. Kleindorfer. 2000. “Liberalization and the Universal Service Obligation in Postal Service.” In Current Directions in Postal Reform, edited by Michael A. Crew and Paul R. Kleindorfer. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Dobbs, Ian, and Jeanne Golay. 1995. “Universal Service Obligation and Reserved Sector.” In Cost of Universal Service, edited by Ulrich Stumpf and Wolfgang Elsenbast. Papers presented at the 3rd Königswinter Seminar, WIK Proceedings.
Elsenbiast, Wolfgang, and Ulrich Stumpf. 1995. “The Cost of Universal Service Obligations in a Competitive Environment.” Papers presented at the 3гd Königswinter Seminar. Wissenschaftliches Institut fur Kommunikationsdienste.
Kolin, Marshall and Edward J. Smith. 1999. “Mail Goes Where the Money Is: A Study of Rural Mail Delivery in the United States.” In Emerging Competition in Postal and Delivery Services, edited by Michael A. Crew and Paul R. Kleindorfer. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Panzar, John C. 2001. “Funding Universal Service Obligations: The Costs of Liberalization.” In Future Directions in Postal Reform, edited by Michael A. Crew and Paul R. Kleindorfer. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Rodriguez, Frank, Stephen Smith and David Storer. 1999. “Estimating the Cost of the Universal Service Obligation in Postal Service.” In Emerging Competition in Postal and Delivery Services, edited by Michael A. Crew and Paul R. Kleindorfer. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Scarfiglieri, Gennaro, and Vincenzo Visco Comandini. 2000. “Postal Profits Arise where People Are.” In Future Directions in Postal Reform, edited by Michael A. Crew and Paul R. Kleindorfer. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
United States Postal Service. 2000. “The Household Diary Study, Fiscal Year 1999.” Volume 1.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cohen, R. et al. (2002). A Comparison of the Burden of Universal Service in Italy and the United States. In: Crew, M.A., Kleindorfer, P.R. (eds) Postal and Delivery Services. Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy Series, vol 41. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0253-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0253-7_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7962-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0253-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive