Suchergebnisse

British Telecom is being privatised. Catherine England, an American economist, draws on US experience to warn Britain of the dangers of suppressing competition by regulation. The American exemplar should encourage the UK Government to go the whole hog: decontrol the telephone industry and intensify competition from new private suppliers.

MUCH OF THE CRITISM OF MEDICALCARE IN US CENTERS ON THE AD HOC NATURE OF OUR HEALTH-CAREDELIVERY "SYSTEMS" OF WHICH THE COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF BLOOD FOR TRANSFUSION (BLOOD BANKING) IS ONE OF THE WORST CULPRITS. THE ROLE OF COMPETITION IN BLOOD BANKING HASRECENTLY COME UNDER FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ATTACK, AND THIS PAPER USES FUNDAMENTALS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION ANALYSIS TO CLARIFY THE ISSUES.

In little more than 20 years the share of the largest firms in manufacturing output in the UK nearly doubled, from 22 per cent in 1949 to 41 per cent by 1972. Important features of this increase have been the enormous growth in the number of separate plants operated by these firms (the average number per firm went up from 27 to 72 between 1958 and 1972) and the related spread of their interests into practically every sector of the economy. Diversification accompanied by large size raises two central issues: first, what is the effect on competition and resource allocation between industries and, secondly, how efficient is the internal organisation of the largest companies? The main emphasis of the study summarized here was on the first of these questions, although the estimates of the extent and scope of diversification amongst the largest manufacturing firms also have a direct bearing on the second.