As in many countries around the world, subsidies to energy in Bangladesh impose a significant fiscal burden, with benefits that disproportionately accrue to high-income households. Any reforms of energy subsidies should benefit the overall economy rather than those who use energy the most. Using...

This paper presents an analysis of the economic impact of electricity price increases in Bangladesh. A computable general equilibrium (CGE) model is developed and used to trace through the impact of an increase in the price of electricity on GDP, household consumption, economy-wide investment,...

A policy considered in isolation may be ineffective because of the countervailing impact of other factors. And the success of a policy may itself lead to perverse incentives. Thus it is important to design complementary policies that support the original goal. Controlling air pollution from...

In both countries the higher the level of community income, the lower the pollution intensity of local plants. This paper provides support for the idea that community-based pressure on plants to abate pollution exists, even in the presence of formal regulation.Pargal, Hettige, Singh, and Wheeler...

Pargal assesses the importance of the regulatory framework as a determinant of private sector investment in infrastructure. She uses recently compiled data on private and public sector investment in the water, power, telecommunications, railroads, and roads sectors between 1980 and 1998 in nine...

By the late 1990s, the technical and financial performance of the power sector in India had deteriorated to the point where the Government of India had to step in to bail out the state utilities, almost all of which were vertically integrated state electricity boards (SEBs). Considering that the...

The authors start from the premise that governments act as agents of the public in regulating pollution, using the instruments at their disposal. But when formal regulatory mechanisms are absent or ineffective, communities will seek other means of translating their preferences into reality....