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This paper aims to examine the recent performance of European Union (EU) telecommunications policy in the context of the policy aims set out in the original green paper of 1987. It also aims to consider some problems encountered in applying the regulatory rules to interconnection, mobile roaming and broadband.

The paper draws on economic and institutional analysis undertaken in 2007, complemented with monitoring of the EU policy response and empirical evidence until 2012.

The paper finds that, despite the success of the regulatory reform of 2003, the EU has encountered problems in dealing with a few “big ticket” policy items via its market reviews. The difficulties stem from a mix of factors, including poor methodological design and an erroneous assumption that effective competition is feasible in all market segments. Three main avenues for improvement are suggested, whilst retaining the basic structure of the cycle of market reviews.

The paper draws on theory, as well as empirical and institutional evidence over two decades, to highlight some flaws in dealing with some key telecommunications policy issues in the EU. It is of value to policy makers, industry analysts and academics.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of copper access regulation on broadband household adoption for each technology (xDSL on copper infrastructure, FTTx on fiber infrastructure and cable modem). It provides a forecast of the penetration rate of broadband access for each technology (copper xDSL, fiber, FTTx and cable modem) through 2020.

This paper uses an empirical approach using a dataset covering 15 European countries. The dynamic of the adoption path is modeled by a logistic function. Copper access regulation is measured by two variables: copper access charge and copper wholesale access share, i.e. the ratio of copper wholesale access provided by the incumbent to alternative operators out of the total number of copper accesses.

This paper shows that tough copper access regulation has a negative impact on fiber and cable modem adoption. Low copper prices decrease consumer adoption of other technologies. This reduces their profitability and thus the incentives to invest in alternative platforms.

This paper highlights that an increase in copper access charges or a decrease in copper wholesale access shares could help to achieve the objectives of the Digital Agenda for Europe.

This paper provides an empirical evidence of the impact of the copper access regulation on the fiber and ultra-fast broadband adoption from a dynamic point of view.

The concept of light-handed regulation, including light-handed approaches to the regulation of airport services, is discussed. The rationale for the economic regulation of airport services and the traditional approaches used for economic regulation of airport charges are summarized. The evolution of international practice of light-handed regulation is outlined, including the experience with minimal regulation across monopoly industries in New Zealand and the acceptance of “negotiated settlements” in utility industries in North America. General reasons for moving to light-handed regulation of airports include the disadvantages of the price cap approach in practice and the benefits of facilitating greater negotiation between airports and users. Comparisons are made between alternative approaches to light-handed regulation of airport services, including price and quality of service monitoring, information disclosure regulation and negotiate-arbitrate regulation, approaches that have been applied to airport services in Australia and New Zealand. The role and nature of the incentives under each approach are discussed. The chapter concludes that whether light-handed regulation provides a suitable alternative approach to direct regulation depends on the market circumstances and the design characteristics of the light-handed approach.

The aim of this paper is to make policy makers and regulators more fully aware of the practical problems and costs involved in implementing geographically segmented regulation. This awareness will be valuable in deciding whether to adopt the approach and, if so, in designing its implementation, i.e. how the scheme's problems will be addressed and costs minimized.

Increasingly, incumbent operators and some regulators have argued that regulatory forbearance should be adopted in geographic areas (usually the more densely populated cities) where facility‐based competition is developing. Certainly geographically segmented regulation accords with widespread agreement that regulation should be the minimum necessary. Indeed, a number of countries have implemented the scheme, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, Portugal, Spain, the UK and USA. This paper examines the experience these countries have had in applying geographically segmented regulation.

The lessons from experience in applying geographically segmented regulation suggest that the processes used to determine specific relevant markets are, at present, contentious and problematic in principle, and complex and subjective in practice. The problems/costs relating to the implementation of geographic regulation could erode the stability, certainty and predictability so important in a regulatory regime. Moreover, outcomes are uncertain, especially when looking ahead into an NGN environment.

This is the first paper that examines the actual experience of countries that have implemented geographically segmented regulation.

Regulating common‐pool resources is welfare enhancing for society but not necessarily for all users who may therefore oppose regulations. The purpose of this paper is to examine the short‐term impact of common‐pool resource regulations on welfare distribution.

The authors model a game of common‐pool resource extraction among heterogeneous users.

It was found that market‐based regulations such as fees and subsidies or tradable quotas achieve a higher reduction of extraction from free‐access than individual quotas with the same proportion of better‐off users. Also, they make more users better‐off for the same resource preservation.

The quota regulation has attractive fairness properties: it reduces inequality while still rewarding the more efficient users.

To date, there has been little research into users of the Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations 2013. This paper addresses that gap by presenting key findings from the AHRC-funded Digital Library Futures project. Its purpose is to present a “user-centric” perspective on the potential future impact of the digital collections that are being created under electronic legal deposit regulations.

The study utilises a mixed methods case study of two academic legal deposit libraries in the United Kingdom: The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford; and Cambridge University Library. It combines surveys of users, web log analysis and expert interviews with librarians and cognate professionals.

User perspectives on NPLD were not fully considered in the planning and implementation of the 2013 regulations. The authors present findings from their user survey to show how contemporary tensions between user behaviour and access protocols risk limiting the instrumental value of NPLD collections, which have high perceived legacy value.

This is the first study to address the user context for UK Non-Print Legal Deposit. Its value lies in presenting a research-led user assessment of NPLD and in proposing “user-centric” analysis as an addition to the existing “four pillars” of legal deposit research.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to explore how gatekeepers’ ways of regulating the researchers’ access to knowledge in/about care services reflect the systemic and interpersonal values that inform Danish welfare systems’ daily workings at the street level; and also explore how the authors’ methodological experiences mirror the value-informed regulatory strategies that professionals and users themselves experience in their daily encounters in the same local practices that the authors have studied.

The paper takes its empirical point of departure in a multisited ethnographic field study of the management of citizens with complex problems in Danish welfare systems.

By means of Michael Lipsky’s outline of access regulation, the authors will analyze the following regulatory strategies that are identified during the fieldwork: “Gatekeepers’ sympathy and creaming,” “Queuing and delay,” and ‘Withdrawal of consent and “no resources.” The paper suggests that trust, shared goals and sympathy seem to be key to the process of getting access.

Despite principles of neutrality, equal rights and access to services in welfare systems, the authors’ experiences thus tend to support other research within bureaucratic and care organizations, which has found that interpersonal relations, sympathy, dislikes, norms and values, etc., can heavily influence timely access to services, tailored information and support.

Higher education institutions are the citadel of knowledge and are heavily involved in formulating building regulations and building infrastructure designs that must conform to the building regulations. The study aims to identify university infrastructures compliant with disabled access from the perspective of the built environment students in Ghanaian universities.

Questionnaire surveys were administered to 500 built environment students across ten technical universities in Ghana with a total population of 3066; 341 were expected based on the formula used. However, upon several reminders, 176 responded. Data collected were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.

The findings show that all university facilities are not fully compliant with disabled access. Structures found to be least compliant are the laboratories, canteens, hall of residence, toilet facilities, football fields, places of worship and transport stations. The facilities with high compliance are the administration block, library, hospital building, lecture halls, department offices and ATM areas. The leading causes for this non-compliant are lack of enforcement of the building regulations, low level of disabled students’ enrolment, age of the building, lack of knowledge and poor building designs.

Compliance with disabled access makes universities world class and creates safe learning spaces for individuals with disabilities, enforcing the right to education for all individuals, particularly those with disabilities. Lack of compliance with disabled access will hamper the full utilisation of these facilities, thereby affecting quality education delivery to people with disabilities.

The findings are essential to the Ghanaian built environment, the lives of disabled individuals and universities. The results provide knowledge on areas of improvement for complete access to structures and facilities by disabled individuals.

Despite 2016 legalization of recreational cannabis cultivation and sale in California with the passage of Proposition 64, many cannabis businesses operate without licenses. Furthermore, federal regulations disincentivize financial institutions from banking and lending to licensed cannabis businesses. The authors explore the impact of legal cannabis business activity on California financial institutions, the barriers to banking faced by cannabis businesses, and the nontraditional sources of financing used by the industry.

The authors use a mixed methods approach. The authors utilize call data for banks and credit unions headquartered in California and state cannabis licensing data to estimate the impact of the extensive and intensive margins of licensed cannabis activity on key banking indicators using difference-and-difference and fixed effects regressions. The qualitative data come from interviews with industry stakeholders in northern California's “Emerald Triangle” and add important context.

The quantitative results show economically and statistically significant impacts of licensed cannabis activity on banking indicators, suggesting both direct and spillover effects from cannabis activity to the financial sector. However, cannabis businesses report substantial barriers to accessing basic financial services and credit, leading to nontraditional financing arrangements.

The results suggest opportunities for cannabis businesses and financial institutions if regulations are eased and important avenues for further study.

The authors contribute to the nascent literature on cannabis economics and the literature on banking regulation and nontraditional finance.