Discussion

Abstract

Much has been written about the effects of regulatory change in the US aviation sector. Keeler’s paper does not simply provide a valuable service in bringing together much of this disparate material but also offers an economic framework within which one can attempt to evaluate the overall consequences of the rather dramatic changes which have occurred. Further, it provides not only an extension but also a somewhat different perspective to the much-cited, more institutional and management science-oriented analysis of the situation produced by Levine (1987). It is also a very pragmatic analysis, less concerned with defining the ideal than with essentially conducting a cost-benefit analysis of the impacts of the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act.