In the European Union, energy markets are increasingly being liberalized. A case in point is the European natural gas industry. The general expectation is that more competition will lead to lower prices and higher volumes, and hence higher welfare. This paper indicates that this might not happen...

The efficiency of electricity generation in hard coal fired power plants varies considerably from country to country and over time. These differences occur both between developing and developed countries and between industrialised nations. The econometric analysis presented in this paper tests...