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Regulatory Governance and Sector Performance : Methodology and Evaluation for Electricity Distribution in Latin AmericaThis paper contributes to the literature that explores the link between regulatory governance and sector performance. The paper develops an index of regulatory governance and estimates its impact on sector performance, showing that indeed regulation and its governance matter. The authors use two unique databases: (i) the World Bank Performance Database, which contains detailed annual data for 250 private and public electricity companies in Latin America and the Caribbean; and (ii) the Electricity Regulatory Governance Database, which contains data on several aspects of the governance of electricity agencies in the region. The authors run different models to explain the impacts of change in ownership and different characteristics of the regulatory agency on the performance of the utilities. The results suggest that the mere existence of a regulatory agency, regardless of the utilities' ownership, has a significant impact on performance. Furthermore, after controlling for the existence of a regulatory agency, the ownership dummies are still significant and with the expected signs. The authors propose an experience measure in order to identify the gradual impact of the regulatory agency on utility performance. The results confirm this hypothesis. In addition, the paper explores two different measures of governance, an aggregate measure of regulatory governance, and an index based on principal components, including autonomy, transparency, and accountability. The findings show that the governance of regulatory agencies matters and has significant effects on performance.
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Romania - Functional Review : Transport SectorThis report describes the results of the Functional Review of the transport sector in Romania. During its early transition years, Romania implemented radical structural reforms in the institutions of the transport sector, but over the last decade there has been concern that these changes have not led to tangible improvements in transport policy administration nor in the efficiency and effectiveness of the main delivery institutions in the railway and road sectors. The Review has tried to discern the main reasons for these shortcomings and to identify remedial actions. It focuses on three main challenges: the administration of the transport sector as a whole; the corporate governance of state-owned road and railway companies; and the priorities for the companies themselves. Attention is also given to budgeting issues and opportunities for greater private sector participation.
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Institutions for Regulatory GovernanceThis paper looks at the role and design
 of regulatory reform institutions in developing countries.
 These institutions are classified into four broad types: 1)
 regulatory reform units, commonly known in Organization for
 Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries as
 oversight bodies for regulatory reform; 2) high-level
 committees for regulatory reform, established in some
 countries to leverage support and take decisions at a high
 political level; 3) advisory and/or advocacy bodies in
 charge of proposing improvements to the regulatory system by
 strengthening coordination and consultation mechanisms and
 by promoting the regulatory reform agenda; and 4) Ad hoc
 institutions for regulatory reform, established to launch
 regulatory reform efforts and to work on a single defined
 task or activity. This paper is divided into the following
 sections: section one briefly reviews the theoretical debate
 and literature about the role of institutions in
 facilitating higher economic growth, focusing in particular
 on regulatory institutions and their relevance in developing
 countries; section two discusses the main features of
 regulatory reform institutions at the center of government,
 namely regulatory oversight bodies, high level committees,
 advocacy and/ or advisory bodies and ad-hoc institutions for
 regulatory reform; and section three identifies the features
 of these institutions that are considered to be best
 practice. Section three also identifies and discusses
 lessons learned and the implications for establishing and
 operating such institutions in developing country contexts.