Efficiency Measures and Regulation: An Illustration of the Gas Distribution Sector in Argentina

Martín Rodríguez Pardina and Martín Rossi
Additional contact information
Martín Rodríguez Pardina: Universidad Argntina de la Empresa

No 4_1999, UADE Working Papers from Instituto de Economía, Universidad Argentina de la Empresa

Abstract: The paper develops a cost frontier model of gas distribution and estimates it on data for gas distribution companies of Argentina. Efficiency measures are an important tool for regulators, showing how much a firm can rise its output without using more inputs. In Argentina, the Regulatory Framework of the gas sector establishes that only firms that are efficient can earn a rate of return similar to those activities that bear comparable risk. In this context, the estimate of efficiency measures is an indispensable tool to improve regulation of the privatised utilities. The first part of the paper consists in a theoretical survey of the existent literature where we discuss recent developments in this field, paying special attention to the case of regulated utilities. Deterministic and stochastic cost frontiers are analysed, both for the cases of cross-section and panel data. In the second part, we use econometrics methods to estimate a cost frontier (deterministic and stochastic) for the gas distribution sector in Argentina. Finally, the efficiency rankings of the companies are estimated.

Keywords: Efficiency Measures; Gas Distribution Sector in Argentina (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L50 L90 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 22 pages
Date: 1999-04-01
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.uade.edu.ar/DocsDownload/Publicaciones/4_228_1618_WPS004_1999.pdf Full text (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 404 Not Found (http://www.uade.edu.ar/DocsDownload/Publicaciones/4_228_1618_WPS004_1999.pdf [302 Moved Temporarily]--> https://www.uade.edu.ar/DocsDownload/Publicaciones/4_228_1618_WPS004_1999.pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:uadewp:1999_004

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in UADE Working Papers from Instituto de Economía, Universidad Argentina de la Empresa Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Mariano E. Gonzalez ().