Taking Stock of the Impact of Power Utility Reform in Developing Countries : A Literature Review
This paper reviews recent literature on the impacts of various components of power sector reform on the performance of electric utilities in developing countries. Recent literature is heavily focused on statistical testing of the significance of th...
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/343401527772117639/Taking-stock-of-the-impact-of-power-utility-reform-in-developing-countries-a-literature-review http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29889 |
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okr-10986-298892021-06-08T14:42:46Z Taking Stock of the Impact of Power Utility Reform in Developing Countries : A Literature Review Bacon, Robert POWER UTILITIES ELECTRIC UTILITIES PRIVATIZATION REGULATION COMPETITION EMERGING MARKETS REFORM UTILITY PERFORMANCE STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES This paper reviews recent literature on the impacts of various components of power sector reform on the performance of electric utilities in developing countries. Recent literature is heavily focused on statistical testing of the significance of the links between four components of sector reform (unbundling, private sector participation, regulation, and competition) and various performance indicators (relating to utility performance, user outcomes, and broader economic development). Some studies exhibit methodological shortcomings in failing to account for interactions between reforms or degrees of reform; however, others appear to be robust. The strongest result is that the introduction of private sector participation is linked to a significant improvement in labor productivity and distribution losses. Moreover, unbundling reforms in isolation is found to have hardly any significant impact on utility performance. The introduction of an independent regulator or competition is not generally significant across studies. A notable feature of all of the studies is very limited testing of the effects of policy introduction on performance indicators, such as bill collection and the duration and frequency of outages. Poor performance on these indicators of state-owned power companies is well documented and bill collection has been identified as a major hidden cost of unreformed power sectors. The materiality of the impact of private sector participation, on the various performance indictors found to be significant, is calculated for studies that provide sufficient information to do so. The size of the impact of private sector participation on utility performance is substantial in a couple of studies, although much more modest in others. 2018-06-18T20:34:31Z 2018-06-18T20:34:31Z 2018-05 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/343401527772117639/Taking-stock-of-the-impact-of-power-utility-reform-in-developing-countries-a-literature-review http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29889 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8460 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
POWER UTILITIES ELECTRIC UTILITIES PRIVATIZATION REGULATION COMPETITION EMERGING MARKETS REFORM UTILITY PERFORMANCE STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES |
| spellingShingle |
POWER UTILITIES ELECTRIC UTILITIES PRIVATIZATION REGULATION COMPETITION EMERGING MARKETS REFORM UTILITY PERFORMANCE STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES Bacon, Robert Taking Stock of the Impact of Power Utility Reform in Developing Countries : A Literature Review |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8460 |
| description |
This paper reviews recent literature on
the impacts of various components of power sector reform on
the performance of electric utilities in developing
countries. Recent literature is heavily focused on
statistical testing of the significance of the links between
four components of sector reform (unbundling, private sector
participation, regulation, and competition) and various
performance indicators (relating to utility performance,
user outcomes, and broader economic development). Some
studies exhibit methodological shortcomings in failing to
account for interactions between reforms or degrees of
reform; however, others appear to be robust. The strongest
result is that the introduction of private sector
participation is linked to a significant improvement in
labor productivity and distribution losses. Moreover,
unbundling reforms in isolation is found to have hardly any
significant impact on utility performance. The introduction
of an independent regulator or competition is not generally
significant across studies. A notable feature of all of the
studies is very limited testing of the effects of policy
introduction on performance indicators, such as bill
collection and the duration and frequency of outages. Poor
performance on these indicators of state-owned power
companies is well documented and bill collection has been
identified as a major hidden cost of unreformed power
sectors. The materiality of the impact of private sector
participation, on the various performance indictors found to
be significant, is calculated for studies that provide
sufficient information to do so. The size of the impact of
private sector participation on utility performance is
substantial in a couple of studies, although much more
modest in others. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Bacon, Robert |
| author_facet |
Bacon, Robert |
| author_sort |
Bacon, Robert |
| title |
Taking Stock of the Impact of Power Utility Reform in Developing Countries : A Literature Review |
| title_short |
Taking Stock of the Impact of Power Utility Reform in Developing Countries : A Literature Review |
| title_full |
Taking Stock of the Impact of Power Utility Reform in Developing Countries : A Literature Review |
| title_fullStr |
Taking Stock of the Impact of Power Utility Reform in Developing Countries : A Literature Review |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Taking Stock of the Impact of Power Utility Reform in Developing Countries : A Literature Review |
| title_sort |
taking stock of the impact of power utility reform in developing countries : a literature review |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2018 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/343401527772117639/Taking-stock-of-the-impact-of-power-utility-reform-in-developing-countries-a-literature-review http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29889 |
| _version_ |
1764470639115108352 |