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Regulating and deregulating the public utilities 1830--2010

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  • Judith Clifton
  • Pierre Lanthier
  • Harm Schröter

Abstract

History can provide invaluable insights into important issues of the economic and social regulation of utilities, and offer lessons towards future debates. But the history of utility regulation -- which speaks of changing, diverse and complex experiences around the world -- was, unfortunately, sidelined or marginalised when economists and policymakers enthusiastically embraced the question of how to reform the utilities from the 1970s. This paper provides an overview of the three, overarching, `waves' of utility regulation from the nineteenth century to the present, documenting how, when and why the ways in which the roles of the state, the market and firms altered over time. It then contextualises and explains the main contributions of each of the papers included in this special issue of Business History , which cover energy, communications, water, transportation and other urban infrastructure regulation, across Western Europe, the United States and Australia.

Suggested Citation

  • Judith Clifton & Pierre Lanthier & Harm Schröter, 2011. "Regulating and deregulating the public utilities 1830--2010," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(5), pages 659-672, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:53:y:2011:i:5:p:659-672
    DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2011.599592
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    Cited by:

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    2. Narayanan, Sriharini & Rajan, A. Thillai & Jebaraj, Paul & Elayaraja, M.S., 2017. "Delivering basic infrastructure services to the urban poor: a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of bottom-up approaches," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 50-62.
    3. Saes, Alexandre Macchione & Loureiro, Felipe Pereira, 2014. "What developing countries' past energy policies can tell us about energy issues today? Lessons from the expropriation of American Foreign and Power in Brazil (1959–1965)," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 36-43.
    4. Clifton, Judith & Díaz-Fuentes, Daniel & Revuelta, Julio, 2014. "Financing utilities: How the role of the European Investment Bank shifted from regional development to making markets," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 63-71.
    5. Mats Kröger, 2024. "Cream-skimming through PPAs – Interactions between Private and Public Long-term Contracts for Renewable Energy," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2092, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Germà Bel & Xavier Fageda, 2013. "Market power, competition and post-privatization regulation: Evidence from changes in regulation of European airports," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 123-141, June.
    7. Heino, Ossi & Anttiroiko, Ari-Veikko, 2014. "Enabling and Integrative Infrastructure Policy: The Role of Inverse Infrastructures in Local Infrastructure Provision with Special Reference to Finnish Water Cooperatives," MPRA Paper 60276, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 28 Nov 2014.
    8. Massimiliano Agovino & Massimiliano Cerciello & Antonio Garofalo & Loris Landriani & Luigi Lepore, 2021. "Corporate governance and sustainability in water utilities. The effects of decorporatisation in the city of Naples, Italy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 874-890, February.
    9. Hausman, William J. & Neufeld, John L. & Schreiber, Till, 2014. "Multilateral and bilateral aid policies and trends in the allocation of electrification aid, 1970–2001," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 54-62.
    10. Eitan, Avri, 2023. "How are public utilities responding to electricity market restructuring and the energy transition? Lessons from Israel," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    11. Alessia Patuelli, 2017. "Le aziende ferroviarie inglesi e italiane tra Ottocento e Novecento: profili di intervento pubblico," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(2), pages 7-42.
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    13. Carole RENTSCH & Matthias FINGER, 2015. "Yes, No, Maybe: The Ambiguous Relationships Between State-Owned Enterprises And The State," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(4), pages 617-640, December.

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