L96 - Telecommunications

• Welfare Analysis of Equilibria With and Without Early Termination Fees in the US Wireless Industry

  Staff working paper 2020-9 Joseph Cullen, Nicolas Schutz, Oleksandr Shcherbakov

  The elimination of long-term contracts and early termination fees (ETFs) in the US wireless industry at the end of 2015 increased monthly service fees by 2 to 5 percent. Nevertheless, consumers are clearly better off without ETFs. While firms’ revenues from ETFs vanish, their profits from monthly fees increase. As a result, the overall effect on producer profits is less clear.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, L, L1, L15, L9, L96 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market structure, Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods

• Explaining the Interplay Between Merchant Acceptance and Consumer Adoption in Two-Sided Markets for Payment Methods

  Staff working paper 2019-32 Kim Huynh, Gradon Nicholls, Oleksandr Shcherbakov

  Recent consumer and merchant surveys show a decrease in the use of cash at the point of sale. Increasingly, consumers and merchants have access to a growing array of payment innovations as substitutes for cash.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C5, C51, L, L1, L13, L15, L8, L81, L9, L96 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Household and business credit, Money and payments, Payment and financial market infrastructures, Retail payments