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This book addresses major issues facing postal and delivery services throughout the world. Worldwide, there is currently a considerable amount of interest in postal and delivery economics. The industry is in a state of near crisis and drastic change is needed. The European Commission and member States are still wrestling with the problem of how to implement entry liberalization into postal markets, how to address digital competition, and how to maintain the universal service obligation (USO). The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 in the U.S. has perhaps created and exacerbated the problems faced by USPS. Post Offices (POs) have been slow to address the threat of electronic competition. On the other hand, e-commerce presents opportunities for POs to expand their presence in parcel delivery and perhaps help finance or redefine the USO. A major aim of this book is to address strategies POs can use to reinvent themselves for the digital age.This book compiles original essays by prominent researchers in the field, which will be selected and edited from papers presented at the 25th Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics held in Barcelona, Spain, May 24-27, 2017. That conference, and this volume, commemorates the memory of Michael Crew who organized twenty-four prior conferences and co-edited previous conference volumes. This book is a useful tool not only for graduate students and professors, but also for postal administrations, consulting firms, and Federal Government departments.

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Chapter 1: Academic Hubs and the Intellectual Infrastructure of Economic Regulation.- Chapter 2: On Some Historical Contributions of the Postal Delivery Conference.- Chapter 3: Michael Crew´s (and Paul Kleindorfer´s) Scholarly Contributions to the CRRI Postal Conferences, 1990-2012.- Chapter 4: DHL Express (Austria): Towards Legal Certainty on Article 9 and Applicable Obligations for Postal Service Providers.- Chapter 5: Quantity Rebate Scheme - Applicability of "per sender" Reasoning for Corporate Groups.- Chapter 6: Regulation. Quo Vadis?.- Chapter 7: PAEA´s Take on Regulatory Economics.- Chapter 8: Are European Cross-Border Parcel Delivery Services Affordable?.- Chapter 9: The 2016 Commission Proposal for a Regulation on Cross-Border Parcels: An Assessment of the Objectives, Background, Issues and Potential Impacts.- Chapter 10: E-Commerce of Goods: Testing the European Single Market.- Chapter 11: How E-Commerce is Shaping a New Consumer-Focused Regulatory Framework for the European Parcel Delivery Market.- Chapter 12: Life After Volume Declines: Is There a Viable Future for the Postal Sector?.- Chapter 13: Analysis of the Effect of Management Quality Variables in Delivery Cost Functions.- Chapter 14: Postal Users´ Needs Regarding Accessibility to the Postal Network.- Chapter 15: Kill Your Darlings: When Does Sacrificing Next-Day Delivery Help USO Sustainability?.- Chapter 16: The Pricing of Cross-Border Parcel Delivery Services.- Chapter 17: Pricing Efficiency Decisions for Letter and Parcel Markets when Industrial Relations Matter.- Chapter 18: The Impact of Competition on Consumer Prices for Cross-Border Parcels.- Chapter 19: Adjusting Rates for Quality of Service.- Chapter 20: Simulating Cost Effective Parcel Delivery Methods for Postal Services.- Chapter 21: Price Elasticities and Factors Driving International Contract Export mail Sent from the UK to Western European Countries.- Chapter 22: An Exploration of the Impact of Parcel Volume Growth on the Service Performance of Letter Mail.

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