Regulatory policy and industry structure: the case of interstate household goods carriers ( USA).
以美国州际家庭用品承运商为例，探讨监管政策如何影响行业结构、企业组织结构和绩效，指出准入控制应扩展至新制度安排，并发现费率水平与组织选择及服务质量存在关联。
While the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 dealt with motor carriers in general, special legislation was enacted specifically for household goods (HHG) carriersThe Household Goods Transportation Act of 1980. The HHG Transportation Act was enacted partly because of the unique economic characteristics of interstate HHG moving services. These characteristics include the nonrepetitive and personal nature of the service, the relatively uninformed status of many individual shippers, the importance of service performance to these consumers, the dispersed locations of shipment origins and destinations, the pronounced seasonality of demand, and the heavy carrier reliance on independent agents and owner-operators for the supply of different elements of the HHG service. Although HHG carriers are a somewhat distinct segment of the interstate motor carrier field, this paper will suggest several neglected theoretical issues which may be applicable to the study of other types of regulated firms. In particular, this paper will suggest a broadening of the concept of entry control to include new institutional arrangements. Thus, for the HHG industry,1 it will be indicated that regulatory barriers to entry inhibit the development of new structural arrangements, which could eliminate or correct for the reported dysfunctional relationships between HHG carrier service and financial performance. Furthermore, it will be suggested that a linkage exists between the general level of carrier rates, on the one hand, and both carrier choice of organizational structure and carrier service performance on the other. In a broader sense, the paper provides evidence for relationships between regulatory policy, industry structure, typical firm organizational structures, and carrier performance. First, a brief background of HHG industry structural characteristics will be presented.