"Given the relatively small segment of the population that faces genuine affordability problems in Latin America, there appears to be a promising case for using targeted subsidies to reconcile the cost recovery objective with social protection concerns. Social tariff schemes of various kinds are...

"Subsidies to residential utility customers are popular among policymakers, utility managers, and utility customers alike, but they are nonetheless the subject of much controversy. Utility subsidies are seen as a way to help make utility service affordable for poor households and as an...

"The author 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...

In the second half of the 1980s, several electricity companies in developed countries incorporated the automation of the reads of the consumption meters installed in their customers' premises. Adoption of that approach was driven in all the cases by the need to lower the significant costs of...

COVID-19 created a dynamic shock to the international tourism industry, with the related health concerns and travel restrictions impacting travelers' perceptions of risk. Among the most affected economies were Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which are highly dependent on tourism receipts,...

This report, based on a household survey conducted in 2006, discusses options for discouraging qat consumption in Yemen. It draws on a survey-the first representative data collection exercise aimed specifically at assessing the qat consumption phenomena-which confirms that the use of this drug...

"Globalization brings opportunities and pressures for domestic firms in emerging markets to innovate and improve their competitive position. Using data on firms in 27 transition economies, the authors test for the effects of globalization through the impact of increased competition and foreign...