Beyond Transparency: The Semantics of Rulemaking for an Open Internet

In trying to promote the development of an open Internet, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has primarily tried to encourage network providers to be transparent about their traffic management practices and quality of service prioritization policies. Dominant network operators have successfully challenged this minimalist approach to addressing end-user concerns about the rise of a two-tiered Internet, motivating the FCC to engage in yet another public consultation process to assess its future approach to the problem. This article maps the debate using Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools that allow us to build a systematic picture of the positions of the regulator and groups of private interests trying to shape its decisions. A quantitative linguistic analysis of the content of formal written submissions to the FCC by parties with divergent views helps document how the conceptual model of the regulator evolved during the rulemaking process leading to the FCC February 2015 network neutrality Order. Despite the adoption of a broader substantive basis by the FCC under Title II of the Communications Act, the rule-of-reason approach to substantive interpretation in the Order limits the capacity of the new regulatory framework to protect and promote an open Internet. The evidence suggests the public consultation process is likely to serve as a tool for legitimizing status quo institutional arrangements that allow operators to engage in discriminatory traffic prioritization strategies

An Applied General Equilibrium Analysis of EU Integration for Hungary and Slovakia: What Happens in the Labour Markets?

Abstract: The implications of integration with the European Union on the labour markets of Central and East European transition economies have been neglected in the literature. We build an Applied General Equilibrium Model for Hungary and the SlovakRepublic and simulate the integration process with specific reference to the labour markets in these economies. The results show that the effects of joining the preferential trading arrangement of the EU are context dependent. Labour markets in the Slovak Republic are more sensitive to the trade diverting effects of this form of integration than those of Hungary. This is especially the case for the utilisation of skilled labour and can be justified by the structural differences between the two economies. This would imply that Slovakia has a lower potential for building on the existing human capital capacities. For Hungary, since the EU is the dominant trading partner, the scope for diversion and the resulting structural distortions in the labour market remain limited.