Study On The Regulation Reform Performance Of China's Telecommunications Industry

In the past decade, telecommunication industry is one of the fastest growing industries in China, and its regulation reform has been widely concerned. Applying the theories of industrial organization, natural monopoly and industry regulation, this thesis studies the performance of regulatory reform of China's telecommunication industry. The main contents include:Firstly, based on a review of the existing natural monopoly theory, the regulation theory and the theory of industrial organization, this thesis analyses the applicability of the Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) Paradigm in a natural monopoly industry. The author illustrates that the impacts of the regulation on the natural monopoly industry varies in each stage of the regulation process, and then introduces the SCP analysis framework. Secondly, following a discussion of the technological and economic characteristics within the telecommunication industry and its variation, as well as an economic analysis on the firm's behavior in this industry, the paper suggests the reasons of continuous regulation and the supposed reform of the regulation, and summarizes the experiences and lessons of the telecom regulation reforms in the main industrialized nations. Thirdly, the thesis evaluates the performance of China's regulation reform in 4 aspects:industrial development, total factor productivity, competitiveness and social welfare. In the process of empirical studies, applying the econometric model of Scott J. Wallsten, the paper further proves the evaluation results on the regulation performance, in terms of4 specific dimensions: development stage of the industry, price, efficiency, and the service quality. In conclusion, the author argues that the regulation reform significantly promoted the development of the telecommunications industry, reduced the price, increased its efficiency, and to a certain extent, improved the quality of telecom service. Finally, the author lists out the policy advices and the prospect of the research.