This paper presents estimates of the rate of scale economies and technical change in the gas distribution industry with rate of return regulation as firm level in Japan using a translog non-minimum cost function. The result bases on a sample of 9 privately owned firms for the period 1981-1995....

Regulatory reform had its beginnings in the United States in the 1970s, and today it is taking place around the globe. One of the central questions for industrial policy is how to regulate firms with market power. Regulatory Reform tackles this important policy issue in two parts: it describes...

The purpose of this paper is to assess comparative efficiency in water and sanitation sector in Brazil. We run a Sthocastic Frontier Analysis model for a panel of 127 providers, covering more than 70% of urban population of the country. We search and find an explanation for cost efficiency, and...

We analyze by means of frontier methods (input requirement function) the relative energy efficiency of urban water and sanitation providers in Brazil. We estimate energy savings through measures the sector could implement on variables which control. We find a 63 percent efficiency average, with...

Since early 2009, electricity and gas distribution in Germany has been subject to incentive regulation designed to ensure greater efficiency in electricity and gas grid operation. However, it remains to be seen how changes to the regulatory framework will affect the investment behavior of...

Since early 2009, power supply in Germany has been subject to incentive regulation designed to ensure greater efficiency in electricity and gas grid operation. However, it remains to be seen how changes to the regulatory framework will affect the investment behavior of distribution system...

We study the impact of the liberalization of EU natural gas markets on the balance of power between `local champions', customers, and outside producers. We distinguish between two steps of the reform: 1. opening access to transit pipes and 2. opening access to distribution systems, hence...

The Japanese government initiated a series of regulatory reforms in the mid-1990s. The Japanese urban gas industry consists of various sized private and non-private firms. Numerous previous studies find that deregulation leads to productivity improvements. We extend the literature by analyzing...

Many developing countries around the world apply progressive water tariffs, often structured in the form of discretely increasing block tariffs (IBTs). These tariffs have been criticized in the welfare economic literature due to their perceived inefficiency: many of the prices charged under IBTs...

This paper reports the results of an experiment evaluating three regulatory schemes for network infrastructure, in terms of their ability to generate efficient levels of capacity investment. We compare the performance of (1) price cap regulation, (2) a regulatory holiday for new capacity, and...