La industria de la electricidad: Un análisis microeconómico de la regulación[The electricity industry: A microeconomic analysis of its regulation]

This study applies microeconomic theory to analyze the regulatory framework of the Bolivian electricity sector following its privatization and capitalization under the Electricity Law of 1994. The paper evaluates how the state designed a system to secure allocative, internal, and dynamic efficiencies by unbundling the industry vertically and horizontally into generation, transmission, and distribution activities. Through comparative analysis, the author contrasts a theoretical model of unregulated market liberalization—highlighting the risks of natural monopolies and monopsonies in transmission—against the actual implemented system. Special attention is given to the institutional architecture of the National Load Dispatch Committee (CNDC) in simulating competitive wholesale market clearances based on short-run marginal costs. Furthermore, the paper details the application of two-part pricing tariffs to incentivize generation capacity, maximum revenue price caps inside transmission network access, and base tariff structures under information asymmetry in regional retail distribution monopolies.