Jackie Krafft

Vertical structure of the industry and competition: an analysis of the evolution of the info-communications industry

Abstract The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, the paper provides a synthesis of the potentialities and limits of the dominant economic literature on vertical contractual relations which essentially focuses on the impact of vertical specialization and vertical integration on competition and customers’ welfare. Second, the paper proposes a characterization of the different degrees of vertical specialization and vertical integration for key actors in the info-communications industry: equipment suppliers, telcos, ISPs/IAPs, navigation and software/middleware companies, information and content companies. Thirdly, the paper acknowledges a confrontation between, on the one hand, optimal vertical structures exhibited in dominant economic models and, on the other hand, observed vertical structures in the info-communications industry. From this confrontation emerges an important gap between theoretical results and observable trends. The outcome of this paper is thus that the dynamics between vertical relationships and competition requires a new research agenda, especially for researchers concerned with the evolution of the info-communications industry.

Why and How Should New Industries with High Consumer Switching Costs be Regulated? The Case of Broadband Internet in France

Affiliations: Jackie Krafft: University of Nice – Sophia Antipolis, CNRS-GREDEG, 250 rue Albert Einstein, 06560 Valbonne, France; Tel: +33(0)4.93.95.41.70; Fax: +33(0).4.93.65.37.98; Email: jackie.krafft@gredeg.cnrs.fr. Evens Salies: Departement of Research on Innovation and Competition, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques, 250 rue Albert Einstein, 06560 Valbonne. Tel: +33(0)4.93.95.41.52; Fax: +33(0)4.93.65.37.98; E-mail: evens.salies@ofce.sciencespo.fr