An independent, charitable organisation dedicated to the study of regulation and deregulation 

Announcements

airport-airplanes-gates-flight-line-163771.jpeg

Airport Enterprises: An Economic Analysis

The Institute is delighted to announce our first foray into book publishing with ‘Airport Enterprises: An Economic Analysis’ written by David Starkie.
‘Airport Enterprises: An Economic Analysis’ frames the airport firm as a business platform for a broad spectrum of commercial activities, some of which enjoy the characteristics of two-sided markets. This is in contrast to the usual application of welfare economics as an analytical lens for airports, a lens which is argued to be inappropriate for an industry with an international customer base. Also challenged is the consensus that airports are natural monopolies; cost functions are not necessarily sub-additive, additional capacity is added mostly in small increments, and new entry feasible as a result of product diversification or negotiating parties striking long term pricing contracts. Finally, a number of questions are raised about current public policy, the standard interpretation of economic rents at congested airports, and existing plans for adding capacity at London Heathrow airport.

Read More »

Upcoming Events

Conference

Annual Competition and Regulation Conference 2024

The RPI can announce the dates for our 2024 Annual Competition and Regulation Conference. This will be hosted at Lady Margaret Hall on the 9th-10th September 2024. The theme of the conference is Challenges for the New Government: Identifying Strategic Priorities

Read More »

Recent Documents

man in coat statue near buildings
Past Learnings

Why competition? 250 years of learning and forgetting in Political Economy

The notion that promoting competition is a Good Thing has become a consistent theme in economic policymaking in recent decades, accompanied by an implication that “the more of it the better” should be a presumptive policy stance. In contrast, very many members of the public appear to find these propositions far from obvious, not least those who are owners of, or workers for, business enterprises.

Read More »
a bookshelf stocked with books
Past Learnings

Fairness, the Ultimatum Game and Public Policy

The notion of ‘fairness’ is widely referenced in public policymaking and enforcement, but with no settled meaning. What we see is incoherent application of the notion across economic contexts, a form of policy disorder with which we are well familiar. Moreover, the disorder (‘entropy’) appears to be increasing over time.

Read More »
Primitive painting done Italian immigrant
Insights into Regulation

Immigration and the Ultimatum Game

Alongside the Prisoners Dilemma, study of the Ultimatum Game (UG) and its variants is a rich source of experimental observations on human attitudes and conduct

Read More »

Enquiries

If you are interested in finding out more about, sponsoring, or collaborating with us on any aspect of these research programmes, or if you would like to commission bespoke work from the RPI Research Group, please contact us at: