System Building at the Margin: The Problem of Public Choice in the Telephone Industry Article

Lipartito, K. (1989). System Building at the Margin: The Problem of Public Choice in the Telephone Industry . 49(2), 323-336. 10.1017/S0022050700007968

cited authors

  • Lipartito, K

fiu authors

abstract

  • This article considers whether natural monopoly conditions or AT&T's market power was responsible for the formation of a single, standardized network in the United States telephone industry. It shows that AT&T was able to move the industry towards a single system under its management through a strategy of competition and compromise with competitors. The article also examines the impact of AT&T's actions on state regulators, concluding that public officials, lacking necessary knowledge and authority to set policy, ended up supporting AT&T's position in the industry. © 1989, The Economic History Association. All rights reserved.

publication date

  • January 1, 1989

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 323

end page

  • 336

volume

  • 49

issue

  • 2