Abstract
This paper looks at the link between the Universal Service Obligation (USO) and postal monopoly and postulates that by providing a simple, transparent process to manage the USO the link will be broken. It provides an historic perspective of the USO and highlights the “definition” problem that the recent push to deregulation has caused. It also shows that the historic links now forged between USO and monopolies have their origins in areas other than social conscience. Currently, the main justification for the USO are the sharing of information and the development of a healthy economy within a democratic society. However, there are those who believe that the postal industry is rapidly diminishing as the means of sharing information and that the postal monopoly, supported by the USO, is restricting market driven economic development.
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Rawnsley, D., Lazar, N. (1999). Managing the Universal Service Obligation. In: Crew, M.A., Kleindorfer, P.R. (eds) Emerging Competition in Postal and Delivery Services. Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy Series, vol 31. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5122-2_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5122-2_12
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