Materials from Hertford Seminars
Competition Policy, Innovation and Technological Change
Speech to the Hertford Seminar in Regulation, ‘New challenges in competition policy’
September 27, 1996
Documents
Documents
The nature of regulatory risk
Regulatory risk is a controversial topic. Firstly, does the presence of an industry regulator create regulatory risk, and, secondly, if regulatory risk does exist, should investors be compensated in the form of extra return? This study investigates these issues for UK regulated businesses, and, importantly, it also investigates whether the notion of regulatory risk should be widened to include the actions of one industry regulator imparting risk upon the whole regulatory sector. Capital market data is collected in connection with an announcement concerning a possible change in the regulatory regime for elctricity companies. We find substantial evidence of a consistent market reaction to the announcement acroos the electricity and water industries, with less compleeing evidence for other regulated companies. The market reaction is not explained as an adjustment for systematic risk. Therefore the conclusions from this evidence are that regulatory risk is present, that this risk may not be confined to an industry, and it is risk that does not require compensation in the form of additional return – it is unsystemic risk.
July 16, 1996
Documents
Regulatory risk and cost of capital: summary of views of interveiwees
Between July 1995 and January 1996 a series of one-to-one reviews were carried out with all the regulatory bodies, seven investment analysts, five companies each in the electricity and water industries, British Gas (BG), British Telecom (BT and British Airports Authority (BAA). Issues focused on the sources and nature of risk, the cost of capital and other pressing concerns of interviewees. This document provides a summary of the views expressed.
July 16, 1996
Documents
How regulation works: BT’s experience
A personal perspective on the regulatory relationships, their workings, and their effects on the way business operates, including: remarks of a somewhat theoretical kind about the nature of regulation in a free market economy; an examination of the way in which ideas on what regulation is about have been incorporated into the regime for telecommunications and how these ideas have actually worked in practice; and some proposals for reform
September 30, 1994
Documents
Political Intervention versus L’Etat de Droit Economique: The issue of convergence of competition policies in Europe
It could be argued that 35 years after the signing of the Treaty of Rome, European competition policy is on the verge of fulfilling its
April 30, 1994
Documents
The effects of regulation in the UK beer market
From time to time UK governments and their agencies have been concerned about the level of competion in the beer market, and, in particular, whether competition is sufficiently effective to ensure that, given the government tax take, prices are kept low in relation to costs.
January 31, 1994
Materials from Conferences
Regulatory interventions for promoting investments in environmentally benign energy technologies
The costs and effectiveness of two CO2 emission control policies in Japan
September 16, 1993
Materials from Conferences
Economic evaluation of different generating systems: Environmental cost and carbon tax simulation
This study examines perspectives of different generating systems (nuclear, LNG, coal, oil, thermal power) in economic terms by extimating their generating costs at the plants commissioned in fiscal 1992 and those in fiscal 2000 from current and likely levels of unit construction cost, fuel price and other conditions.
September 16, 1993
Documents
Problems of regulating environmental externalities
Environmental regulation is defined as regulation undertaken to protect environmental standards. The precise objectives are, however, frequently far less clear, sometimes even to the regulator. Definition of precise objecives of the regulation is a crucial first step.
September 16, 1993
Documents
The optimal control of global warming
This paper integrates a simple model of the global economy with a model of the global climate in order to calculate the associated evolution of global warming over the very long term. It includes both a brief non technical overview of the model and a detailed description of the model.
September 16, 1993