Price Elasticities for Local Telephone Calls
利用通用电话与电子公司在伊利诺伊州中部的实验数据，估计电话通话次数和时长的价格弹性，发现弹性绝对值约0.1或更小，但估计精度高，并讨论了结果对预测其他城市引入按次计费电话费率的影响。
Price elasticities are estimated for telephone calls and minutes of conversation using data from a experiment in central Illinois conducted by General Telephone and Electronics. The experiment charges separately for calls and for minutes. Using a model that is consistent with the theory of telephone demand, the authors estimate the effects of both prices. The nonlinear generalized least squares estimates of the elasticities are fairly small-about 0.1 or less in absolute value at experimental price levels-but they are estimated with high precision. The report briefly considers the application of these results to predict the effects of introducing measured service telephone rates in other cities. RESIDENTIAL TELEPHONE SUBSCRIBERS in the United States typically pay a flat monthly rate for with no extra charge for calls within the area. The alternative of explicitly charging for calls, commonly referred to as usage-sensitive pricing or local measured service, is of increasing interest to U.S. telephone companies and regulatory commissions (Cosgrove and Linhart [5]; Garfinkel and Linhart [8]; Baude, ed. [2]).3 Charging for calls that are now free clearly holds promise of increasing economic efficiency (Alleman [1]; Mitch