Regulation of infrastructure and utilities public policy and management issues

Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy Regulation of Infrastructure and Utilities Public Policy and Management Issues Alberto Asquer www.ebook3000.com Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy Series Editors Toby Carroll Department of Asian and International Studies City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong Paul Cammack Department of Asian and International Studies City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong Kelly Gerard School of Social Sciences The University of Western Australia Australia Darryl S L Jarvis Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Science The Education University of Hong Kong Hong Kong Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy presents cutting edge, innovative research on the origins and impacts of public policy Going beyond mainstream public policy debates, the series encourages heterodox and heterogeneous studies of sites of contestation, conflict and cooperation that explore policy processes and their consequences at the local, national, regional or global levels Fundamentally pluralist in nature, the series is designed to provide high quality original research of both a theoretical and empirical nature that supports a global network of scholars exploring the implications of policy on society The series is supported by a diverse international advisory board drawn from Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America, and welcomes manuscript submissions from scholars in the global South and North that pioneer new understandings of public policy International Advisory Board: Michael Howlett, Simon Fraser University, Canada; John Hobson, University of Sheffield, UK; Stuart Shields, University of Manchester, UK; Lee Jones, Queen Mary, University of London, UK; Kanishka Jayasuriya, Murdoch University, Australia; Shaun Breslin, University of Warwick, UK; Kevin Hewison, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Richard Stubbs, McMaster University, Canada; Dick Bryan, University of Sydney, Australia; Kun-chin Lin, University of Cambridge, UK; Apiwat Ratanawaraha, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand; Wil Hout, Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, The Netherlands; Penny Griffin, University of New South Wales, Australia; Philippe Zittoun, Science Po, Grenoble, France; Heng Yee Kuang, University of Tokyo; Heloise Weber, University of Queensland, Australia; Max Lane, Victoria University, Australia More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/14465 www.ebook3000.com Alberto Asquer Regulation of Infrastructure and Utilities Public Policy and Management Issues Alberto Asquer School of Finance and Management SOAS, University of London London, UK Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy ISBN 978-3-319-67734-7 ISBN 978-3-319-67735-4  (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67735-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017953109 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 This work is subject to copyright All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Cover credit: Efrain Padro/Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland www.ebook3000.com Contents Infrastructure and Utilities: The Need for Regulation Part I  Devising Regulation Theories of Regulation 19 Regulatory Policies, Strategies, and Tools 35 Regulatory Reforms 57 Case Study: The Reform of the Water Sector in Italy in 1994 71 Part II  Installing Regulation The Politics of Regulation 99 Regulatory Capacity 109 Case Study: The Reform of the Water Sector in Italy in 1994–2001 123 v vi  Contents Part III  Making Regulation Work Regulatory Commitment and Investments 149 10  The Performance of Regulated Industries 165 11  Case Study: The Reform of the Water Sector in Italy in 2001–2011 179 12  Conclusion: The Design of Regulatory Systems 199 Glossary 211 References 217 Index 219 www.ebook3000.com List of Figures Chapter 5 Fig. 1 Total investments in water infrastructure, 1954–1990, constant prices 2010 € million 79 Chapter 8 Fig. 1 Total number of regions that passed regional laws for transposing the national water legislation (grey bars), and total number of OTA authorities established (white bars), per year (author’s elaboration) 136 Chapter 9 Fig. 1 The components of a tariff scheme that includes a “cost pass-through” component and a Rate of Return component 155 Chapter 11 Fig. 1 Total number of water infrastructure development and tariff plans (grey bars), and total number of water franchises awarded (white bars), per year 192 Fig. 2 Institutional and organizational forms of water service provision in Italy, 2011 195 Fig. 3 Investments in the water sector, €/inhabitant/year, 1990–2011 195 vii List of Tables Chapter 2 Table 1 Variants in interest-group politics (Baldwin et al 2012) 25 Table 2 Grid-group cultural theory (Douglas 1986) 26 Chapter 5 Table 1 Percentage of operators and percentage of water volume served, per type of water firm 80 Table 2 The implementation tasks and regulatory functions provided by Act 36/1994 87 Chapter 12 Table 1 Requirements for a RIA 202 ix www.ebook3000.com CHAPTER 1 Infrastructure and Utilities: The Need for Regulation 1   Introduction Infrastructure and utilities constitute the backbone of contemporary ­economic systems and an essential platform for the working of societies The development of infrastructure and utilities marked the industrialization of Western countries and the economic growth that they experienced, especially in the twentieth century At the time of writing, several initiatives to develop infrastructure and utilities are under way, especially in Asia and Africa and with the support of various international organizations and donor countries From railways to power grids, from water and sewage plants to telecommunication networks, new infrastructure and utilities are regarded as essential to improve the living conditions of billions of people, open opportunities for business and trade and strengthen the capacity of governments to deliver public policies Infrastructure and utilities are complex systems whose development should be accompanied by appropriate regulation Regulation of infrastructure and utilities is a function that is intended to steer the conduct of entities that operate infrastructure and utilities services Regulation has many repercussions for the working of infrastructure and utilities systems, including the determination of prices for infrastructure and utilities services, the making of investment in infrastructure and utilities assets, the intensity of competition between infrastructure and utilities service providers, and the conditions of access to services for the users © The Author(s) 2018 A Asquer, Regulation of Infrastructure and Utilities, Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67735-4_1 ... www.ebook3000.com Alberto Asquer Regulation of Infrastructure and Utilities Public Policy and Management Issues Alberto Asquer School of Finance and Management SOAS, University of London London, UK Studies... the regulation of infrastructure and utilities rather than of other economic and social activities (e.g., regulation of banking and finance, welfare and health) The terms infrastructure and utilities. .. over-investment, and unfair distribution of costs and benefits across the society This book aims to discuss the many policy and management issues related to the regulation of infrastructure and utilities