Publisher:
Inter-American Development Bank, Office of the Chief Economist, Washington, DC
Abstract:
There are two similarities between the utility privatization programs of the UK and Latin America. Privatization has largely consisted of the transfer of industry-dominant, state companies into the private sector, often with statutory monopoly powers. In addition, the extensive use of price cap rather than rate-of-return regulation. A difference is that, arguably, the UK tried to create a fair but flexible regulatory policy by establishing a set of individual industry regulators somewhat independent from the government with considerable discretionary powers.