"The authors review a number of studies on the effectiveness of utility regulatory agency and governance arrangements for the electricity industry, particularly for developing countries. They discuss governance criteria and their measurement, both legal frameworks and surveys of regulatory...

"The authors assess for 28 developing countries over the period 1980-2001 whether the existence of a regulatory law and higher quality regulatory governance are significantly associated with superior electricity outcomes. Their analysis draws on theoretical and empirical work on the impact of...

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...

The Indian power sector suffers from considerable supply shortages. The Government of India (GoI) is addressing this problem both through a major new build program (including certain fiscal incentives for construction of larger and more efficient plant) and through rehabilitation (renovation and...

Access to basic services plays an important role in both individual well-being and a country's economic development. For this reason, general availability of these services to citizens, regardless of income level and geographical location, has generally been viewed as an important public policy...

"This paper summarizes the key findings and conclusions of a literature review of small-scale private service providers (SPSPs) of water supply and electricity conducted over a six-month period in 2003. It draws on more than 400 documents-including journals, articles, reports, case studies and...

To mark the retirement of Robert S. McNamara as President of the World Bank after thirteen years of service, the Bank's Executive Directors commissioned a book gathering together all the principal statements Mr. McNamara made during his tenure of office

"This paper examines legal and regulatory measures that can be taken to promote access to the primary market in emerging market economies. While capital market development depends on many factors including, primarily, a favorable macroeconomic environment, an appropriately designed and effective...