Towards a vertically separated broadband infrastructure: The potential role of voluntary separation

Public policymakers face the challenge of maintaining incentives for investments in fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) infrastructure while simultaneously enabling effective competition. In that regard, the ability of vertically integrated operators to discriminate against downstream rivals is regarded as a major regulatory problem, especially as policing nondiscrimination obligations is notoriously difficult for vertically integrated operators. The European regulatory framework mandates functional separation to eliminate discrimination incentives. However, this measure comes with significant drawbacks and caveats and resembles a strong market and ownership intervention. The present article discusses how voluntary vertical separation can achieve the positive effect of a vertically separated industry structure without the need for strong market interventions. We use a discounted cash flow model to compare the financial attractiveness of wholesale-only and integrated business models for a greenfield FTTP rollout. We further discuss and test how public policymakers could positively affect the profitability of a wholesale-only business model. Based on our findings, we recommend public-policymakers and national regulation authorities to proactively define separation scenarios and respective ex ante regulation reductions precisely, to make adjustments to broadband state aid programs that favor wholesale-only providers, and to critically reflect the hampering effect volume and time discount wholesale tariff structures of incumbents have on the emergence of wholesale-only networks.

Can federations expel member states? On the political theory of expulsion

When, if at all, can a federal political order expel a member state against its will? In political theory, expulsion has—unlike the scenario of secession as voluntary separation—so far received no systematic attention; an omission that is reinforced by the paucity of historical precedent. However, current debates around the potential disintegration of the European Union show that expulsion, as a theoretical and political possibility, deserves a more careful analysis. The article sets out to consider a route toward theorizing expulsion in systematic and realist terms. It outlines possible motivational constellations, feasibility constraints, legitimacy issues, as well as procedural dimensions. The resulting claim—that expulsion may be feasible in some circumstances but that its legitimacy is bound to remain contested—is applied to the case of the European Union.

PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT VIOLATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR

A psychological contract is an implicit understanding between a group of employees and their employer that arose as a result of a particular leadership style. Psychological contract violation (PCV) is said to occur when there is a perceived breach of promise that leads to an emotional and affective response. The literature on PCV posits a number of antecedents and outcomes of PCV. This study seeks to develop a model of PCV by linking it with justice and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). It is argued that the antecedents of PCV lead to a sense of injustice. These will then create the emotional response that is indicative of PCV. It is also argued that an outcome of this PCV experience is reduced OCB and the emergence of a new outlook towards employment relationship. Data was collected from a Malaysian company that initiated a voluntary separation scheme as part of an effort to downsize its work force. The finding of this study provides partial support for the model.