This presentation by Anna Pietikainen, Senior Policy Analyst, Network of Economic Regulators, Public Governance, OECD, was made during the discussion “Independent sector regulators and competition” held at the 68th meeting of the OECD Working Party No. 2 on Competition and Regulation on 2 December 2019. More papers and presentations on the topic can be found at oe.cd/isrc.

1. THE INDEPENDENCE OF
SECTOR REGULATORS
Anna Pietikainen, Senior Policy Advisor, Public Governance Directorate
Competition Committee meeting; December 2, 2019

2. Indicators on the Governance of Sector Regulators
The Indicators measure the strength of regulators’
governance arrangements across 3 components:
For more information: http://www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/ner.htm
Independence
Degree of independence from
government and the regulated
industry
Accountability
Accountability to government,
parliament, industry and the
general population
Scope of Action
Range of activities a regulator
can perform

3. Indicators on the Governance of Sector Regulators
The indicators
capture the
governance
arrangements of
130+ economic
regulators across five
network sectors
Energy
E-communications
Rail transport
Air transport
Water

4. There is more convergence on independence than
other indicators
4

5. Regulators receive guidance on long-term strategy
but less on work programme or decisions
Can the regulator receive guidance from the government regarding…

6. Agency leadership can generally be dismissed
through government decisions
How can the agency head/board members be dismissed from office?

7. Accepting a job in leadership of regulators comes w/
employment restrictions further down the line
Can the agency head/board members accept jobs in the government and/or in the sector that is
regulated by the regulator after their term of office?

8. With great powers comes great responsibility:
correlation between independence and accountability
Correlations between independence and accountability scores show that greater autonomy
is associated with stronger accountability structures

9. Thank you!
For more information:
OECD on regulatory policy: www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/
OECD Network of Economic Regulators:
www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/ner.htm
Stay in touch:
Anna.Pietikainen@oecd.org
@annapieti