The traditionally large and sunk nature of utility investments gives rise to the possibility, if not the likelihood, of opportunistic behavior on the part of either regulators or regulated firms. In this paper, we develop a theoretical model to provide insights into this possibility, then employ...

Jarrell (1978) found that electricity prices rose in states that adopted state regulation before 1917, suggesting that regulators were "captured" by the interests of the regulated electric utilities. An alternative explanation is that state regulation more credibly protected specialized utility...

The asymmetry of Chinese coal and electricity pricing reforms leads to serious conflict between coal suppliers and electricity utilities. Electricity utilities experience significant losses as a result of conflict: severe coal price fluctuations, and uncertainty in the quantity and quality of...