The Politics of Regulation: Institutions and Regulatory Reforms for the Age of Governance

Regulatory studies and research have so far largely focused on regulatory economics, on issues such as privatization, restructuring and regulation, pricing, rates of return, rate structures, etc. It has not often been recognized that the effectiveness of regulation also depends on the social and cultural attitudes, the legal framework, the institutional structures, and politics of the country. The primary aim of this book is to bring into focus the politics of regulation which, as the editors argue, has become all the more important in the age of governance. The global spread of the wave of regulatory reforms, especially the establishment of independent regulatory institutions in over a hundred countries in the last decade and in various sectors of the economy, has raised important issues of governance and has made it necessary to look at the legal and political basis of this emerging phenomenon. This book makes a significant contribution to the re-examination of different theories in vogue and to the development of new techniques of analysis and comparisons. Part one of the book focuses on the theoretical perspectives and their application to the study of regulation; the evolution of regulatory institutions, the relation between regulators and private interests, and interrelation between multiple actors. The second part presents comparative perspectives and tools to interpret and analyse the political and institutional dimensions of regulation. This review focuses only on those chapters that are of particular relevance to India and other developing countries in South Asia, and attempts to draw lessons and ideas for research on regulatory reforms in these countries.