New Horizons in Natural Gas Deregulation - Hardcover

by Jerome R. Ellig (Author), Joseph P. Kalt (Author)

In the natural gas industry, competition and contracting are gradually replacing monopoly and regulation. In this volume, many leading economists who follow the gas industry present their views on current and future industry trends. To help regulators and industry leaders better understand these changes and to reform regulation, the authors apply economic theories of contestable markets, public choice, transaction costs and dynamic entrepreneurship to the gas industry. The issues addressed in this work are crucial, not just for the gas industry, but for all industries that have traditionally been treated as regulated monopolies.

Back Jacket

This volume brings together fourteen papers by leading economists, regulators, and industry practitioners presented at a historic conference on natural gas deregulation. From the origins of gas regulation in the last century to a reexamination of the policy reforms of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) over the last decade, these essays constitute a primer on today's major gas policy issues. These topics include the case for incentive regulation, the costs and benefits of mandatory open-access transportation, the methodology used for determining "workably competitive" markets, lessons from light-handed intrastate regulation, new transactions in the gas market, and private contracting to bypass regulation. Many of these issues and insights can be applied to restructuring other industries such as electric power and telecommunications. Academics and industry practitioners alike will find this book an indispensable reference guide to the history of gas regulation, the recent industry restructuring, and the options for future regulatory reform toward greater market reliance.

Author Biography

JERRY ELLIG is Assistant Professor of Economics at George Mason University's Program on Social and Organizational Learning and Associate Director of the Center for Market Processes. Prior to joining the faculty at George Mason, he served as Research Director at Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation in Washington, DC. He has authored numerous articles in journals such as the Antitrust Bulletin, Journal of Regulatory Economies, Transportation Law Journal, and Contemporary Policy Issues, and is coauthor of Municipal Entrepreneurship and Energy Policy (1994).

JOSEPH P. KALT is Ford Foundation Professor in International Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He has served as codirector of the Harvard Study on the Future of Natural Gas Policy and on the staff of the President's Council of Economic Advisers. He is the author of Drawing the Line on Natural Gas Regulation (Quorum Books, 1987), The Economics and Politics of Oil Price Regulation (1981), and coauthor of Petroleum Price Regulation (1979).