Regulating infrastructure utilities can be extremely complex and fraught with risks of political interference and capture by interest groups, especially in countries with little tradition of politically independent government agencies. To deal with these challenges, policymakers and regulators...

"This paper first describes those features of the electricity supply industry that make a prospective market monitoring process essential to a well-functioning wholesale market. Some of these features are shared with the securities industry, although the technology of electricity production and...

This paper has been prepared in accordance with the terms of reference for a study on power system planning in India: incorporating externality costs and benefits. It reviews estimates of the external costs of power in international studies as well as in India and compares the figures available....

The objectives of this study are to develop a taxonomy of the existing power market structures, as shown by the extent of vertical and horizontal unbundling found among restructured power systems, across developing countries; to design an analytical framework for assessing the desirability of...

"The authors compare the two merger control systems currently employed worldwide: a mandatory system based on merger size threshold and a voluntary system with ex-post monitoring and fines. The voluntary system possesses two informational advantages: (i) the enforcement agency employs more...

"This paper critically reviews existing energy demand forecasting methodologies highlighting the methodological diversities and developments over the past four decades in order to investigate whether the existing energy demand models are appropriate for capturing the specific features of...

Economic Consulting Associates (ECA) and Cambridge Economic Policy Associates (CEPA) have been engaged by Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and the World Bank to prepare a policy paper for enhanced regional electricity trade involving the Economic Cooperation Council (ECO)...

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the channels through which rising commodity prices might affect countries in the Europe and Central Asia Region (ECA) in the short run and to indicate which countries are most likely to be significantly affected. This paper discusses the effects of the...