A decade of experience has shown that monitoring the performance of public and private monopolies is the hardest part of electricity sector reform in South America-because operators control most of the information needed for effective regulation. South American electricity regulators can reduce...

This paper shows empirically that "privatization" in the energy, telecommunications, and water sectors, and the introduction of independent regulators in those sectors, have not always had the expected effects on access, affordability, or quality of services. It also shows that corruption leads...