IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cam/camdae/0448.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Electricity Reform in Chile: Lessons for Developing Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Pollitt, M.G.

Abstract

Chile was the first country in the world to implement a comprehensive reform of its electricity sector in the recent period. Among developing countries only Argentina has had a comparably comprehensive and successful reform. This paper traces the history of the Chilean reform, which began in 1982, and assesses its progress and its lessons. We conclude that the reform has been very successful. We suggest lessons for the generation, transmission and distribution sectors, as well as the economic regulation of electricity and the general institutional environment favourable to reform. We note that while the initial market structure and regulatory arrangements did give rise to certain problems, the overall experience argues strongly for the private ownership and operation of the electricity industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Pollitt, M.G., 2004. "Electricity Reform in Chile: Lessons for Developing Countries," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0448, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    • Handle: RePEc:cam:camdae:0448
    Note: CMI, IO
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/electricity/publications/wp/ep51.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Antonio Estache & MartÌn A. Rossi & Christian A. Ruzzier, 2004. "The Case for International Coordination of Electricity Regulation: Evidence from the Measurement of Efficiency in South America," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 271-295, May.
    2. Pollitt, Michael, 2008. "Electricity reform in Argentina: Lessons for developing countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 1536-1567, July.
    3. Ronald Fischer & Alexander Galetovic, 2000. "Regulatory Governance and Chile's 1998-1999 Electricity Shortage," Documentos de Trabajo 84, Centro de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Chile.
    4. Pablo Serra & Ronald Fischer, 2000. "Regulating the Electricity Sector in Latin America," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2000), pages 155-218, August.
    5. Ronald Fischer & Rodrigo Gutiérrez & Pablo Serra, 2002. "The Effects of Privatization on Firms and on Social Welfare," Documentos de Trabajo 131, Centro de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Chile.
    6. Green, Richard J & Newbery, David M, 1992. "Competition in the British Electricity Spot Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(5), pages 929-953, October.
    7. Littlechild, S.C. & Skerk, C.J., 2004. "Regulation of transmission expansion in Argentina Part I: State ownership, reform and the Fourth Line," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0464, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    8. Domah, P. & Pollitt, M.G., 2000. "The Restructuring and Privatisation of Electricity Distribution and Supply Businesses in England and Wales: A Social Cost Benefit Analysis," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0007, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    9. Sanford V. Berg & Michael G. Pollitt (ed.), 2002. "Private Initiatives in Infrastructure," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2727.
    10. Arellano, M.S., 2003. "Diagnosing and Mitigating Market Power in Chile’s Electricity Industry," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0327, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    11. Federico Basañes & Eduardo Saavedra & Raimundo Soto, "undated". "Post-Privatization Renegotiations and Disputes in Chile," ILADES-UAH Working Papers inv117, Universidad Alberto Hurtado/School of Economics and Business.
    12. William B. Heller & Mathew D. McCubbins, 1996. "Politics, institutions, and outcomes: Electricity regulation in Argentina and Chile," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(4), pages 357-387.
    13. M.G. Pollitt, 2000. "The Declining Role of the State in Infrastructure Investments in the UK," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0001, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    14. Bitran, Eduardo & Serra, Pablo, 1998. "Regulation of privatized utilities: The Chilean experience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 945-962, June.
    15. M. Soledad Arellano, 2003. "Diagnosing and Mitigating Market Power in Chile's Electricity Industry," Working Papers EP27, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    16. Rodrigo Gutierrez & Pablo Serra & Ronald Fischer, 2003. "The Effects of Privatization on Firms and on Social Welfare: The Chilean Case," Research Department Publications 3150, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pollitt, Michael, 2008. "Electricity reform in Argentina: Lessons for developing countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 1536-1567, July.
    2. Jamasb, T. & Mota, R. & Newbery, D. & Pollitt, M., 2004. "‘Electricity Sector Reform in Developing Countries: A Survey of Empirical Evidence on Determinants and Performance’," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0439, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    3. Tooraj Jamasb & Rabindra Nepal & Govinda Timilsina & Michael Toman, 2014. "Energy Sector Reform, Economic Efficiency and Poverty Reduction," Discussion Papers Series 529, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    4. Zhang, Yinfang & Parker, David & Kirkpatrick, Colin, 2005. "Competition, regulation and privatisation of electricity generation in developing countries: does the sequencing of the reforms matter?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 358-379, May.
    5. Hakam, Dzikri Firmansyah, 2019. "Mitigating the risk of market power abuse in electricity sector restructuring: Evidence from Indonesia," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 181-191.
    6. Paul L. Joskow, 2014. "Incentive Regulation in Theory and Practice: Electricity Distribution and Transmission Networks," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Regulation and Its Reform: What Have We Learned?, pages 291-344, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. SMEERS, Yves, 2005. "How well can one measure market power in restructured electricity systems ?," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2005050, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    8. Alberto Chong & Florencio de, 2003. "The Truth about Privatization in Latin America," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm436, Yale School of Management.
    9. Tooraj Jamasb & Rabindra Nepal & Govinda R. Timilsina, 2017. "A Quarter Century Effort Yet to Come of Age: A Survey of Electricity Sector Reform in Developing Countries," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3).
    10. Stern, J., 2000. "Electricity and telecommunications regulatory institutions in small and developing countries," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 131-157, September.
    11. Tooraj Jamasb & Michael Pollitt, 2005. "Deregulation and R&D in network industries: the case of the electricity industry," Working Papers EPRG 0502, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    12. John Nellis, 2006. "Privatization: A Summary Assessment," Working Papers 87, Center for Global Development.
    13. Pollitt, Michael, 2009. "Evaluating the evidence on electricity reform: Lessons for the South East Europe (SEE) market," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 13-23, March.
    14. Fedderke, J.W. & Perkins, P. & Luiz, J.M., 2006. "Infrastructural investment in long-run economic growth: South Africa 1875-2001," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1037-1059, June.
    15. Tooraj Jamasb, 2002. "Reform and regulation of the electricity sectors in developing countries," Working Papers EP08, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    16. Escobari, Diego, 2011. "A theoretical model of collusion and regulation in an electricity spot market," MPRA Paper 32178, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Devkar, Ganesh A. & Mahalingam, Ashwin & Deep, Akash & Thillairajan, A., 2013. "Impact of Private Sector Participation on access and quality in provision of electricity, telecom and water services in developing countries: A systematic review," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 65-81.
    18. Jamasb, Tooraj, 2006. "Between the state and market: Electricity sector reform in developing countries," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 14-30, March.
    19. Rocha, Katia & Camacho, Fernando & Braganca, Gabriel, 2007. "Return on capital of Brazilian electricity distributors: A comparative analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 2526-2537, April.
    20. Jamasb,Tooraj & Nepal,Rabindra & Timilsina,Govinda R., 2015. "A quarter century effort yet to come of age : a survey of power sector reforms in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7330, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Chile; electricity; restructuring; regulation; privatisation.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L98 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Government Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cam:camdae:0448. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jake Dyer (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.