Privatisation, competition and regulation

Over the past decade, privatisation has increasingly taken place in the public utility sector. Technological advances and policy shifts have diminished the perception that public utilities are natural monopolies requiring state ownership. However, the privatisation of such state-owned monopolies raises important regulatory issues. In particular, there should be an adequate regulatory framework to promote competition and, especially if rigorous market competition is lacking, to protect the interests of consumers. Therefore, privatisation needs to be pursued in tandem with competition-enhancing policy and the design of an adequate post-privatisation regulatory framework. This volume brings together a number of papers discussing the interrelationship among privatisation, competition and regulation. The papers make reference to the experience of different countries with privatisation in a wide range of infrastructure sectors.