Publication: Water Privatization and Regulation in England and Wales
Date
1997-05
ISSN
Published
1997-05
Author(s)
Abstract
In 1989, the United Kingdom embarked on
one of the first modern privatizations in the water sector,
selling assets under license and setting up an independent
economic regulator. An important regulatory innovation is
its use of price caps and yardstick competition. The author
highlights two lessons from U.K. regulatory experience:
effective price cap regulation has heavy information
requirements, and the necessary data and analytical tools
take time to assemble. And such built-in checks and balances
as financial autonomy for the regulator and status as an
independent government department are not always enough to
prevent political interference.
Citation
“van den Berg, Caroline. 1997. Water Privatization and Regulation in England and Wales. Viewpoint: Public Policy for the Private Sector; Note No. 115. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11585 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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