Abstract:
We investigate institutional and policy drivers of telecommunications deregulation in Europe. In
particular, we focus on those determinants which received so-far a comparatively little attention:
policy speed and timing, path-dependency, institutional complementarity. We find that: first, crosseffects
from privatizations to liberalizations reveal to affect the liberalization process; second, the
telecommunications industry is shown to play a ‘pivotal role’ in the liberalization patterns of European
countries; third, ‘path dependency’ turns out to be a crucial driver for telecommunications’
liberalizations; fourth, liberalizations in telecommunications result to be linked across European
countries; fifth, ‘institutional complementarities’ between liberalization initiatives and regulatory
authorities are shown to significantly shape the telecommunications market structure. Finally, we
interpret our findings in light of the evolution of the European regulatory framework and suggest that
these results may represent important lessons for policy design in other network industries.
