Public Enterprise Economics: Theory and Application

This clear, precisely written text presents an important branch of the modern, microeconomically based theory of public finance, using only calculus. Answers are provided to some pertinent economic questions, such as the influence of rationed labour and energy markets on public pricing, and the influence of political models on denationalization. Great importance is attached to rate-of-return regulation, the peak-load problem, and the well known rules of public pricing (marginal-cost pricing, pricing under a revenue-cost restraint, and adjustments to monopolistic structures in the private economy), which are elucidated in the light of contemporary theory. The most important theoretical pricing rules are empirically tested by using data on London Transport.