In this book, the latest volume in the annual series published in association with the London Business School and the Institute of Economic Affairs, some of the main issues in UK and EU utility regulation and competition policy are discussed. Topics examined include the new electricity and gas...

Recent events, such as the California energy crisis, the failures of the UK's railways, and the consequences of the third-generation (3G) mobile licence auctions, have called into question the European reliance on a strategy of network industry liberalization. Substantial concentration in energy...

The introduction of competition into utilities is currently being pursued in the many countries, including the UK. Competition can take various forms, such as competition for outputs, inputs, franchises, and outright takeovers. Attention is currently focused on output competition, whereby...

This paper provides a critique of broad aggregate proposals to reduce the regulatory burden. It argues that the public debate about regulatory reform and red tape is loose and general, with little regard for the complex ways in which regulation imposes costs and benefits on the economy. Although...

During the 1980s and 1990s, energy policy concentrated on privatization, liberalization, and competition, in response to the underlying conditions of excess supply and low fossil fuels. These conditions changed around 2000, in response to the coincidence of a structural upward shift in oil...