In the 1980s and '90s many countries turned to the private sector to provide infrastructure and utilities, such as gas, telephones, and highways--with the idea that market-based incentives would control costs and improve the quality of essential services. But subsequent debacles including the...

Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Monopoly as a Contracting Problem -- 2. The Choice of Regulatory Strategy -- I Regulatory Politics and Dynamics -- 3. The Behavior of Regulatory Agencies -- 4. Capture and Instability: Sri Lanka's Buses and U.S. Telephones -- 5. Incompleteness and Its...