We analyze the effects of an incentive based regulatory scheme with revenue caps on the investment behaviors and decisions of 109 electricity distribution companies operating in Germany in 2006-2012. We hypothesize that Germany's implementation of incentive regulation in 2009 has a negative...

Small decentralized power generation units (DG) are politically promoted because of their potential to reduce GHG-emissions and the existing dependency on fossil fuels. A long term goal of this promotion should be the creation of a level playing field for DG and conventional power generation....

Independent regulatory authorities are a basic prerequisite for a successful liberalization process. However, contrary to what is expected, both graphical analyses and OLS regressions for a small sample of electricity and gas regulators operating in 16 European countries reveal a negative...

The degree of liberalization in OECD electricity markets varies considerably across countries. Commonly explained by diverging economic performances, corruption levels or government ideologies, this paper suggest another potential reason for cross-national differences in market reforms: given...

The paper reviews the situation with regard to the electricity sector and the failure of policy and regulation. It argues for direct subsidy and a market oriented unbundling of the sector to take the sector forward. It also brings out the failure of the IPP policy and the costs that it has...

The increase in distributed generation and the increasingly pro-active role of mass consumers demand “smart” distribution networks. To this aim, regulation too must innovate, in order to promote innovative and additional infrastructural investments.This paper develops, first, a...

This article focuses on legal developments since mid-2011 relating to the control of both carbon dioxide (CO2) and conventional pollutants from coal-fired electric power plants. It deals as briefly as possible with pre-2011 issues that are discussed in the author's numerous publications over the...

This article examines the energy market restructuring in EU after the gradual liberalisation process of previous years and defines the application of European competition law to this framework of restructuring. We firstly present the different aspects of this restructuring and second we...

“Meta-regulation” refers to deliberate efforts to induce private firms to create their own internal regulations—a regulatory strategy sometimes referred to as “management-based regulation” or even “regulation of self-regulation.” Meta-regulation is often presented as a flexible...

We propose a difference-in-differences (DiD) approach to estimate the impact of incentives on cost reduction. We show theoretically, and estimate empirically, that German electricity distribution system operators (DSOs) incur higher costs when subject to a lower powered regulation mechanism. The...