Infrastructure Policy : Basic Design Options

Abstract

The paper lays out basic design options for infrastructure policy. It first sketches mechanisms to asses demand. Then it sets out a hierarchy of issues starting with choice of market structure followed by conduct regulation. Ownership options are largely a function of market structure choices. The implications for finance -- the topic of much day-to-day discussion in infrastructure policy-making -- follow from these various prior choices. The discussion naturally circumscribes the role for so-called public-private partnerships -- their uses and pitfalls. Annexes provide checklists for choices of market structure and for diagnosing and benchmarking policies.