全球智库信息集成服务系统(G2TT): DP8693 The Impact of 'Rollover' Contracts on Switching Costs in the UK Voice Market: Evidence from Disaggregate Customer Billing Data

G2TT

来源类型	Discussion paper
规范类型	论文
来源ID	DP8693
	DP8693 The Impact of 'Rollover' Contracts on Switching Costs in the UK Voice Market: Evidence from Disaggregate Customer Billing Data
	Gregory Crawford; Nicola Tosini; Keith Waehrer
发表日期	2011-12-01
出版年	2011
语种	英语
摘要	In February 2008, British Telecommunications (BT) introduced automatically renewing, or ?rollover?, contracts into the UK market for fixed-voice telephone service. These contracts included a 12-month Minimum Contract Period (MCP) with associated Early Termination Charges (ETCs). Unless customers opted out, at the end of the 12 months they would automatically be rolled over into a new MCP and face new ETCs if they later wished to leave BT. Using a unique, disaggregate, customer billing dataset, we measure the impact of rollover contracts on BT customers? decision to switch to another provider. We find that, controlling for the effects of tenure, broadband purchase, price discounts, and self-selection, rollover households switch after their first MCP 34.8% (54.8%) less than comparable customers on standard plans (fixed-term contracts). These imply rollover contracts induce switching costs on the order of 33.0% of the monthly price of the average BT fixed-voice telephone service. This raises significant concerns about the competitive effects of such contracts in media and telecommunications markets.
主题	Industrial Organization
关键词	Bundling Contracts Rollover Switching costs Telecommunications Telephone
URL	https://cepr.org/publications/dp8693
来源智库	Centre for Economic Policy Research (United Kingdom)
资源类型	智库出版物
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.153/handle/2XGU8XDN/537529
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Gregory Crawford,Nicola Tosini,Keith Waehrer. DP8693 The Impact of 'Rollover' Contracts on Switching Costs in the UK Voice Market: Evidence from Disaggregate Customer Billing Data. 2011.