Andrew Smith, University of Leeds. Régulation incitative

Описание: Presentation by Dr. Andrew Smith, Senior Lecturer in Transport Regulation and Economics at the Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, during the French Railway Regulatory Body's second economic conference in Paris, on May the 26th, 2014. "Lessons to be learnt from previous applications of efficiency analysis / benchmarking within the RPI-X incentive regulation framework". This presentation will consider the lessons that can be learnt from previous applications of efficiency analysis / benchmarking within the RPI-X incentive regulation framework. The evidence will be primarily based on previous empirical (econometric) studies of rail infrastructure efficiency in Britain, but will also touch on lessons from the water sector in England and Wales. Whilst economic regulators are seeking "light touch" approaches to economic regulation, it will be argued that efficiency analysis / benchmarking can be extremely powerful. However, there will also be discussion around the substantial challenges in evaluating whether econometric models are "good enough" for use in the regulatory framework, and what judgement needs to be applied in translating the model outputs into appropriate efficiency targets. The issue of dealing with uncertainty (of different kinds) will also be discussed. Finally, the vexed question of how better to collect good and comparable data, and, related to that, incorporate variables that capture heterogeneity and quality will be discussed.