Rail Privatisation: The Economic Theory

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relevance of economic theory to the rail privatisation proposals contained in the Railways Act 1993. After a review of the latest rail privatisation literature four major themes emerged: (1) Contestability and Barriers to Entry. (2) Franchising. (3) Vertical Integration. (4) Horizontal Integration. Following a short review of the rail privatisation proposals the paper presents each theme in the context of the proposals. In conclusion, we highlight a number of future issues which will require monitoring and research in the future. In particular, we identify a number of hypotheses, put forward by both those in favour and against the Government's proposals, that should be tested

Competition in Electricity Spot Markets: Economic Theory and International Experience

auctions, electricity markets

Investigation of current perspectives for NHS Wales sustainable development through procurement policies

Public sector procurement has to operate under the pressure of policies and strict budgets. This paper examines the current perspectives of NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP) on sustainable procurement policies through the environmental, social and economic dimensions. In particular, it investigates the adoption levels of the sustainable procurement policies of buyers (NHS Wales), examines the level of engagement of SMEs to NHS Wales, and explores the support for the existing sustainable procurement function through order-processing analysis of catalogue coverage

Public sector restructuring and regional development: the impact of compulsory competitive tendering in the UK

This paper contributes to the analysis of contemporary public sector restructuring in the UK through an evaluation of the impact of the introduction of compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) for the provision of local public services. Public services play an important stabilizing role in regional economic development but the introduction of CCT has undermined that role. Public service workers have suVered deteriorating levels of pay and conditions of service, and the capacity of local authorities to act to support local economic development has been reduced. Thus the introduction of CCT has undermined the contribution of local public services to the maintenance of interregional economic stability and to regional development

Agent-based simulation of electricity markets: a literature review

Liberalisation, climate policy and promotion of renewable energy are challenges to players of the electricity sector in many countries. Policy makers have to consider issues like market power, bounded rationality of players and the appearance of fluctuating energy sources in order to provide adequate legislation. Furthermore the interactions between markets and environmental policy instruments become an issue of increasing importance. A promising approach for the scientific analysis of these developments is the field of agent-based simulation. The goal of this article is to provide an overview of the current work applying this methodology to the analysis of electricity markets. --

Electricity Sector Reform in Developing Countries: A Survey of Empirical Evidence on Determinants and Performance

This paper reviews the empirical evidence on electricity reform in developing countries. We find that country institutions and sector governance play an important role in success and failure of reform; reforms appear to have increased operating efficiency and expanded access to urban customers; they have to a lesser degree passed on efficiency gains to customers, tackled distributional effects, or improved rural access. Moreover, some of the literature is not methodologically robust or on a par with general development economics literature and findings on some issues are limited and inconclusive while some important areas are yet to be addressed. Until we know more, implementation of reforms will be more based on ideology and economic theory rather than solid economic evidence.The World Bank Electricity Research Programme and the CMI Electricity Project (IR-45

Enhancing the role of the voluntary and community sector - a case study of the Yorkshire and Humber Region

This report was commissioned by the Chief Executive of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) to evaluate at ground level, using the Yorkshire and Humberside region as a case study, what is currently being achieved by the Prison and Probation Services in working with the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS); and to identify and provide analysis of perceived barriers and make recommendations to improve the engagement of the sector