Bureaucrates as Entrepreneurs: Do Municipal Telecom Providers Hinder Private Entrepreneurs?

32 Pages Posted: 1 Aug 2012

See all articles by Janice Alane Hauge

Janice Alane Hauge

University of North Texas

Mark A Jamison

University of Florida - Warrington College of Business Administration, Public Utility Research Center

Rich Gentry

University of Mississippi - Department of Management

Date Written: August 15, 2005

Abstract

We consider how government-owned enterprises choose markets and affect privately-owned rivals. Specifically, we compare the types of markets that municipally-owned telecommunications providers in the United States serve to the types of markets that competitive local exchange companies (CLEC) serve. We find that municipalities and private firms make the decisions to provide telecommunications services differently. As a result, municipal providers tend to serve markets that CLECs do not. We also find that the presence of a municipal provider in a market does not affect the probability that a CLEC also serves that market. This research indicates that municipalities may not pose a significant competitive threat to CLECs, due primarily to demographic characteristics that encourage municipal as opposed to CLEC participation. It appears further that municipal participation does not preclude CLEC participation, although the reverse may be true. These results, and the finding that municipal entry restrictions have had little effect, are the first step in a more thorough analysis of municipal telecom provision.

Suggested Citation

Hauge, Janice Alane and Jamison, Mark A. and Gentry, Richard J., Bureaucrates as Entrepreneurs: Do Municipal Telecom Providers Hinder Private Entrepreneurs? (August 15, 2005). TPRC 2005, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2120845

Janice Alane Hauge (Contact Author)

University of North Texas ( email )

1155 Union Circle #311457
Denton, TX 76203
United States
940-565-2573 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://economics.unt.edu/

Mark A. Jamison

University of Florida - Warrington College of Business Administration, Public Utility Research Center ( email )

PO Box 117142
Gainesville, FL 32611
United States
352-392-6148 (Phone)
352-392-7796 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://warrington.ufl.edu/purc/facultyinfo.asp?WEBID=1217

Richard J. Gentry

University of Mississippi - Department of Management ( email )

United States
662-259-0163 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://faculty.bus.olemiss.edu/rgentry/

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