Foundations of regulatory economics/ edited by Robert B. Ekelund V.1

The economics of regulation is, along with the related field of industrial organization, one of the most important areas of applied microeconomics. This three-volume set of essays in regulatory economics attempts, at least by way of introduction, to acquaint a reader with the foundations of past and current thinking in regulatory economics. The papers and essays selected for these volumes cover more than a century and a half of contributions- from the very foundations of discussions about controlled markets to some very recent developments. The emphasis is less on purely technical contributions and more on historical, ideational and empirical studies relating to regulation. (Unlike markets subject to to few regulations, I heavily regulated markets leave a data trail, the economist's bonanza.) While lines of cation are difficult to establish firmly, the three volumes loosely follow a pattern with E topical demar Volume I devoted to 'origins and development' of regulatory theory and practice, Volume II to contemporary theories of regulation and Volume III to issues related to regulation and deregulation along with empirical studies of the effects of regulation in past and present markets. Given that regulation is, in some form or another, a ubiquitous feature of modern and historical life, it must be recognized at the outset that even a substantial number of papers and essays will only constitute an outline for further study of regulatory theory and of the functioning of particular markets.

A short history of regulation as a collection of ideas and as a collection of institutions is in order before examining the 80-odd papers in the reader's guides to this collection. In common with the readings selected for these three volumes, my much abbreviated account of the foundations finds a home in the critical interactions between historical events, interest groups and theoretical developments related to regulation. In Section I, after some general commentary on the ultimate nature and progress of regulatory study, author consider the long development and dominance of the normative theory of regulation in the twentieth century. The modern origins of the positive approach to regulation featuring competitive interest groups in a political context follows as the topic of Section II of my essay. Finally, in Section III, author speculate on the future of regulatory study, especially in the context of post-Paretian institutional economics. Author smphasize, throughout this brief introductory essay. that many of the fundamental ideas constituting contemporary regulatory theory, both nor mative and positive, were very much alive in the pre-modern literature on the subject.