The provision of utilities for all at an affordable price has long been regarded as a prerequisite for everyday life, generally guaranteed by the state. But in recent years, publicly-owned utilities throughout Europe have come under increasing fire for their poor performance - their lack of...

Successful network utility privatisation requires incentive-based regulation that allows investment to be adequately rewarded form unsubsidised revenues while maintaining quality, and restructuring that permits effective competition for the network services. The potential for success and the...

The European Union's (EU) energy sector is changing due to major policy reforms. In this article, we examine the impact of major legislative changes which were designed to induce competition in the energy sector: the three liberalization packages. Competition was expected to benefit the industry...

Nowadays energy constitutes a very important concern of policy and public debate. It is justified by the effects of climate change and the national strategies to be self-sufficient in the supply of energy. Renewable energies are the alternative and public policies could play a key role in their...

Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde von Matthias Egerer während seiner Tätigkeit als wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am ifo Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, München, erstellt und an der Universität Kassel am Fachgebiet Theorie privater und öffentlicher Unternehmen als Dissertation angenommen....