This presentation was made by Mark McLeish, OECD, at the 10th annual meeting of the OECD Network of Senior PPP and Infrastructure Officials held at the OECD Headquarters, Paris, on 21 March 2017

1. ECONOMIC REGULATORS
AND THE GOVERNANCE
OF INFRASTRUCTURE
Mark McLeish
10th Annual Meeting of the OECD Network of Senior PPP and
Infrastructure Officials
21 March 2017

2. Body of work of the NER

3. Economic regulators are concerned about lack of
competition
– Some (not all) infrastructure industries exhibit
market failure
– Economic regulators prevent exercise of market
power (tariff regulation, ensuring third parties can
obtain access)
– Also seek to encourage competition, where
possible.
Recap: Economic regulation and
infrastructure

4. Regulated infrastructure delivery and
funding
How is infrastructure delivered?
How is infrastructure funded?
Which regulated industries responded?
Survey participants:
• 24 countries
• 34 regulators
• 77 regulated sectors and subsectors

5. Involvement of Economic Regulators in
infrastructure lifecycle
Stages in the infrastructure lifecycle
Are economic regulators directly involved?

6. Most important regulated infrastructure
needs over the last five years
Top 3:
• Replacement of existing assets
• Increase capacity to meet demand
• Upgrading to new technology

7. Change in role and policy involvement
Are you involved in
policy development?
Change in role over last 5 years?

8. Challenges Economic Regulators face
Top 3:
• Encourage efficient investment
• Data and information
asymmetry
• Governance

9. Conclusions
• Economic regulators not directly involved
• Well informed about infrastructure needs
• Key challenge is encouraging efficient
investment
• However, most have recently experienced
changes in role and functions
• They participate in policy process, but there is
often a tension in policy objectives