This paper is an empirical assessment of the comparative efficiency of governance structures in an environment marked by high uncertainty. We analyze the short-term impact of retail deregulation on the productive efficiency of electric utilities in the United States. We argue that there are...

This paper outlines the essentials of electricity market regulation in the United States and in California. It deals with the Federal laws (PUHCA, FPA, PURPA, EPAct) and with the regulatory policy of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) (particularly order 888, 889, and 2000)....

We argue that information asymmetries between regulators and firms increase the administrative decision costs of initiating new policies due to the costs of satisfying evidentiary or “burden of proof” requirements. We further contend that regulators with better information about regulated...

The traditionally large and sunk nature of utility investments gives rise to the possibility, if not the likelihood, of opportunistic behavior on the part of either regulators or regulated firms. In this paper, we develop a theoretical model to provide insights into this possibility, then employ...

Many policy-makers are currently weighing the advantages of deregulating electricity markets over more traditional regulatory methods. However, within this traditional regulatory environment many options exist. In particular, the use of incentive regulation programs in US electricity markets has...

Theoretically, if firms face a regulatory per-customer quantity limit, they should have an incentive to discriminatively charge high-demand customers higher prices and make them just willing to buy a quantity equal to the limit. In the U.S. residential mortgage industry, mortgages with...

There is a policy debate at both state and federal levels over how to facilitate consumer adoption of the Internet and, particularly, broadband technology to access the Internet. The objective of this study is to offer empirical evidence directly relevant to this debate. In so doing, we examine...

Gegenstand des Beitrages sind die Umstrukturierungen der Stromwirtschaft in Kalifornien. Im Gefolge der Entwicklungen auf der Bundesebene - dem Energy Policy Act von 1992 und der neueren Politik der Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - hat die kalifornische Regulierungskommission Maßnahmen...

Gegenstand des Beitrages sind die Umstrukturierungen der Stromwirtschaft in den Vereinigten Staaten. Im Gefolge von Gesetzesreformen auf der Bundesebene - dem Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act von 1978 und dem Energy Policy Act von 1992 - beginnt sich zunehmender Wettbewerb in der...