Regimes regulatórios: possibilidades e limites

Abstract

The paper aims at examining from a comparative point of view the different existent regulatory regimes. Three main categories arise: the traditional rate-of-return regulation (RTR), the price-cap regulation and the so called incentive regulation that involves earnings sharings above some reference rate-of-return. We examined the incentive issue in regulation taking as reference the recent theoretical literature. There are low incentives for cost reduction under RTR. The alternative forms of regulation, though in principle superior, are also somewhat distant from a theoretical ideal.