Ralf Boscheck

Health care reform and the restructuring of the pharmaceutical industry

Abstract Aiming at containing total costs, recent health care reforms have transformed the organization of medical care. The majority of initiatives induce greater market transparency, budget responsibility and competence in decision making and so shift the system towards providing health rather than medication. Addressing the new market environment, pharmaceutical companies aim at efficiency improvements and skill enhancements, changes in product positioning to address opportunities in OTC markets and generic substitution, and horizontal and vertical arrangements for presumed scale and distribution. Most recent initiatives towards disease management foreshadow the fusion of focused drug development and capitated treatment into future efficient health care conglomerates. And yet, although companies restructure their industries in line with broader health care objectives, regulatory authorities still need to find ways to deal with adjustment cost. Most concerns are related to issues of market access, competitive behaviour and reliable information. In addressing these, health care providers and regulatory authorities face fundamental welfare trade-offs characterizing market-based and more centrally-administered solutions to managing care.

European water infrastructures: Regulatory flux void of reference?

This article outlines the structure of, and the challenges facing, the water industries in several European countries and describes their respective experiences with technocratic infrastructure management, delegated supervision of private concessions, and price-cap regulation. It then addresses common concerns related to operating efficiency and pricing to point to the dearth of comparable data, which limits meaningful benchmarking of productivity and infrastructure conditions, thwarts regulatory and managerial supervision and hampers the identification of some global norms. Attaining that reference calls for an independent, central body able to shed light on national performance and stakeholder interests.

Deregulating European electricity supply: Issues and implications

Abstract In assessing the viability and operational consequences of regulatory reforms in the European electricity industry, the article provides answers to the following questions: 1. 1. How will the electricity business system be affected by market co-ordination? 2. 2. What lessons are to be learned from the UK experience? 3. 3. How can the regulators ensure that consumers and producers will reap the costs and efficiency advantages of a broad-based European Electricity Market? It is argued that competition in electricity supply does not jeopardize supply security, nor does it infringe on the efficiency of investment and resource use. Efficiency inprovements result in higher profit levels and lower consumer prices. Deregulation will force utilities to reassess their market and industry definition, the basic economics driving it, as well as their perception of future skill and organizational requirements to compete. Ultimately, utilities will have to turn into globally competing multiservice firms. For the benefits of deregulation to come about, authorities will have to defend the logic and integrity of their arrangement against the short-sightedness of affected interests.

EU constitutional governance: Failure as opportunity!?

The French and Dutch rejection of the proposed EU Constitution in May 2005 threw the European Union into what many observers regard as its deepest crisis to date. This crisis can also be seen as a unique opportunity for political, economic and institutional renewal, however. The following article outlines the problems presently facing Europe and discusses what changes would have to be made in the EU system of governance in order to overcome them.

New media economics are transforming consumer relations

Abstract The introduction of new IT-based technologies is often said to revolutionize media and retail competition, change the power of brands, and make ‘smart shopping’ or ‘e-commerce’ the future of consumer relations. Other sources, however, caution that the underlying ideas are neither new nor likely to significantly change the market environment. It is the purpose of this article to present a brief perspective on: 1. 1.|Why current changes in media will alter consumer relations; 2. 2.|Which means of consumer access is likely to dominate; 3. 3.|How the result affects the case for e-commerce; and 4. 4.|How this shapes the evaluation of commercial opportunities for established players as well as newcomers.

Trade, competition and antidumping—Breaking the impasse!?

Recent reviews of the WTO, while cautioning against broadening its scope, nevertheless agree that antidumping concerns would need to be addressed “somehow”. Obviously, promoting international market access and “fair” competition is difficult in the presence of divergent rules for dealing with private market power and non-border restraints to trade. This is especially true once these differences are taken to justify preferences for highly discretionary trade policy measures in dealing with dumping concerns. Antidumping and the prerequisite competition issues will therefore have to be put onto the agenda of the new round of trade negotiations.

Healthcare rationing and patient rights

All modern healthcare systems face growing gaps between funding and treatment possibilities. Societal expectations call for decisions on whether to relax or accept resource constraints and how to deal with the respective consequences. The following article compares the different ways in which the healthcare systems in the USA, Germany and the UK have dealt with these problems to date.

Competitive success and the law: The case of Tetra Pak

In July 1991, the European Commission imposed its highest-ever fine for abuse of market power and restraint of competition against Tetra Pak, the Swedish/Swiss packaging company. Ralf Boscheck presents a case study of this decision arguing that the EC investigators may not have defined the market correctly and, in fact, may have misinterpreted the true basis of Tetra Paks competitive advantage. It is suggested that policy makers and companies must engage in dialogue over societys welfare costs and benefits and corporate competitive advantage if competition law is to be efficient.