A computable general equilibrium model is used to estimate the macro-economic and distributional effects of the privatisation and regulation of utilities in Argentina, begun in 1989. Based on data available after the privatisation that indicate different kinds of efficiency gains in electricity,...

The economic rates of return for utility privatization projects in Argentina are very high, whether or not distributional weights are considered. But there is a very high shadow price for regulatory activity, which tends to be ignored in most privatization exercises. And how serious a government...