Abstract
The development of costing models for postal services seems to be increasingly important for postal operators and regulatory agencies. In order to promote the liberalization of postal services, appropriate costing is necessary when evaluating the pricing policies of incumbents and entrants, the costs of universal service obligations and measures currently being undertaken (as well as others under discussion). In this context, this paper argues that: (i) the long run incremental cost model is possibly the most promising tool for the development of postal service cost models, (ii) long run incremental cost models should be based on an engineering approach to the cost function, within the framework of an economic analysis of engineering processes, and (iii) telecommunications networks may be used fruitfully to analyze postal networks. In particular, a comparative metaphorical process can be used for this purpose.
The views presented in this paper cannot be taken as views of ICP-Instituto das Comunicações de Portugal or CTT Correios de Portugal SА. We thank Ricardo Goulão Santos for his support and his comments on earlier versions of this paper.
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Soares, J., Confraria, J., Pimenta, A. (2002). Postal Services Cost Modeling. 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_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0253-7_8
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