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Public-Utility Regulators Are Only Human: A Positive Theory of Rational Constraints

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  • Evans, Lewis
  • Garber, Steven

Abstract

Positive models of public-utility regulation should capture personal incentives of regulators. A regulatory objective function is specified by appea l to standard human concerns coupled with politics and processes pecu liar to public-utility regulation. Constraints a rational regulator w ould impose on the firm are thereby derived, and connections between regulatory objectives and regulatory rules illuminated. Results inclu de theoretical rationales for "rate-of-return" regulation in a worl d of certainty, and a largely neglected type of "rate-of-return" re gulation under (symmetric) uncertainty. Other forms of regulation sho uld also be explicable in terms of personal motives of human regulato rs. Copyright 1988 by American Economic Association.

Suggested Citation

  • Evans, Lewis & Garber, Steven, 1988. "Public-Utility Regulators Are Only Human: A Positive Theory of Rational Constraints," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(3), pages 444-462, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:78:y:1988:i:3:p:444-62
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    Cited by:

    1. Heyes, Anthony & Kapur, Sandeep, 2009. "Enforcement missions: Targets vs budgets," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 129-140, September.
    2. Larry Blank & John Mayo, 2009. "Endogenous Regulatory Constraints and the Emergence of Hybrid Regulation," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 35(3), pages 233-255, November.
    3. Ingo Vogelsang, 2012. "Incentive Regulation, Investments and Technological Change," Chapters, in: Gerald R. Faulhaber & Gary Madden & Jeffrey Petchey (ed.), Regulation and the Performance of Communication and Information Networks, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Ingo Vogelsang, 2006. "Electricity Transmission Pricing and Performance-based Regulation," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 97-126.
    5. Graeme Guthrie, 2006. "Regulating Infrastructure: The Impact on Risk and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 44(4), pages 925-972, December.
    6. repec:vuw:vuwscr:19075 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Stephen G. Donald & David E. M. Sappington, 1995. "Explaining the Choice Among Regulatory Plans in the U.S. Telecommunications Industry," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(2), pages 237-265, June.
    8. Fremeth, Adam R. & Holburn, Guy L. F. & Piazza, Alessandro, 2021. "Activist Protest Spillovers into the Regulatory Domain: Theory and Evidence from the U.S. Nuclear Power Generation Industry," OSF Preprints s39h2, Center for Open Science.
    9. repec:vuw:vuwscr:18946 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Kalu, Timothy Ch. U., 1995. "A uniform profit margin policy and its effects on mineral producing firms The case of the oil industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 61-72, March.
    11. Guthrie, Graeme, 2006. "Regulating Infrastructure: The Impact on Risk and Investment," Working Paper Series 18946, Victoria University of Wellington, The New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation.

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