Governing complex externalities: property rights for sharing radio spectrum

Thomas W. Hazlett (), Ali F. Palida () and Martin B. H. Weiss ()
Additional contact information
Thomas W. Hazlett: Clemson University
Ali F. Palida: University of Pittsburgh
Martin B. H. Weiss: University of Pittsburgh

Public Choice, 2024, vol. 201, issue 3, No 3, 409-428

Abstract: Abstract Radio spectrum has become central to technological progress and economic growth. While, command-and-control regulatory institutions of the early twentieth century were considered necessary to counter endemic market failure, recent regulatory reform towards a market regime with flexible licensing creates an interesting environment for examining how complex externalities are managed by private contracting in decentralized systems. We present empirical evidence suggesting that adoption of a more “Coasean” policy regime in radio was followed by far more crowded wireless markets than were formed under rigid administrative structures. This is observed by contrasting pre-cellular mobile phone system outcomes in the U.S. (1946–1978) with the later evolution of cellular networks (1983–2015). The cellular marketplace exhibits exceedingly more complicated network coordination under liberalized property ownership rules. We nest our empirical findings within a conceptual framework derived from theoretical literature on property rights.

Keywords: Property rights; Radio-spectrum governance; Complex resource spaces (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11127-023-01108-2 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:201:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-023-01108-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... ce/journal/11127/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s11127-023-01108-2

Access Statistics for this article

Public Choice is currently edited by WIlliam F. Shughart II

More articles in Public Choice from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().