This volume, the result of the 21st Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics (Ireland, 2013), describes the continuing problem of the decline of the postal sector in the face of electronic competition and offers strategies for the survival of mail services in a digital age.

Contents: 1. Gross Substitutes vs. Marginal Substitutes: Implications for Market Definition in the Postal Sector Timothy J. Brennan and Michael A. Crew 2. A Business Model for USPS Michael A. Crew and R. Richard Geddes 3. Is Demand for Market Dominant Products of the United States Postal Service Becoming More Own Price Elastic? A. Thomas Bozzo, Kristen L. Capogrossi, B. Kelly Eakin, John Pickett and Mithuna Srinivasan 4. Are U.S. Postal Price Elasticities Changing? Margaret M. Cigno, Katalin K. Clendenin and Edward S. Pearsall 5. Estimating Postal Demand Elasticities using the PCAIDS Method Gregory Swinand and Hugh Hennessy 6. Pricing of Delivery Services in the E-Commerce Sector Claire Borsenberger, Helmuth Cremer, Philippe De Donder, Denis Joram and Sébastien Lécou 7. The Regulatory Treatment of End-to-End Competition in the UK Postal Sector Richard Eccles 8. The Proposed Directive on the Award of Concession Contracts: Implications for USO Entrustment and Compensation Alessandra Fratini 9. Application of EU Competition Law in the Postal Sector: Overview of Recent Cases Damien Geradin and Christos Malamataris 10. Re-regulation for Parcel Delivery in the E-Commerce Context? Joost Vantomme 11. Delivering the Goods to Households: Would Further Regulation Help or Hinder? John Hearn 12. The ‘National Champion’ Approach to Postal Operators: The Case of the Netherlands Benjamin Gough 13. On Alternative USO Financing Mechanisms for the U.S. Postal Market Michael D. Bradley, Jeff Colvin, Mary K. Perkins 14. The Net Cost of the USO under the Profitability Cost Approach: Implications of Labor Market Conditions for the Net Cost Calculation Isabelle Carslake, George Houpis and Christian Strobel 15. Regulation and the Burden of the Net Cost Resulting from Universal Service Obligations Christian Jaag, Urs Trinkner and Topias Uotila 16. Net Cost Calculation: A Practical Example Concerning la Poste and its Territorial Presence Obligation Frédéric Fustier, Lionel Janin and Racha Sahly 17. Calculating the Net Cost of Home Delivery Andreas Haller, Christian Jaag and Urs Trinkner 18. Peer-to-Peer Digital Commerce: Implications and Opportunities for the U.S. Postal Service and Other Posts Laraine Balk Hope, Virgil Ian Stanford and Bruce Marsh 19. Leveraging the Postal Infrastructure for the Authentication of Individuals Towards an Online Government Service Provision Caroline Sheedy and Maria Moloney 20. Accessibility/Proximity in the Digital Age: What Does it Mean for Postal Networks and Postal Services? Claire Borsenberger 21. Digitalization of Consumer Invoices. A Comparative Study Kari Elkelä,, Heikki Nikali and Chris J. Paterson 22. Eat or Be Eaten: The Implications of Strategic Cannibalization and Transformation for the United States Postal Service Adam C. Houck 23. Finding the Conditions for a Successful Social Redeployment Combined with Diversification of Activities Dominique Bailly and Margaux Meidinger 24. Transparency and Non-Discrimination in Postal Pricing Joakim Levin, Åsa Gustafsson, Anders Hildingsson and Sten Selander 25. The Costs, Functions and Pricing of Postal Payment Channels Tim Walsh

‘A seminal body of impressive scholarship, The Role of the Postal and Delivery Sector in a Digital Age is as informed and informative as it is thoughtful, and thought-provoking, making it very highly recommended reading for governmental policy makers, and a critically important addition to academic library reference collections.’