Publications in: Regulatory economics

A Guide to Privatisation – Best Practices and Procedures

Published:16 February, 2023

Many countries have privatised some or all of their State-Owned Enterprises in order to improve the efficiency of their economies and raise revenues for the government. Some of the privatisation experiences have been more successful than others and a wealth of knowledge on what works in a privatisation has been accumulated over the last 40 […]

Green Home Finance: Expert Analysis from a Behavioural Perspective

Published:1 March, 2024

Green home finance presents an opportunity to support the UK Government in achieving its Net Zero Ambitions. This study by London Economics and partners Basis Social, Cambridge University and University College London explores the appetite for GHF products amongst consumers, the barriers and enablers to GHF delivery, and how behavioural science can be used to […]

Understanding Customer Values – Behavioural Experiment Report – March 2019

Published:6 March, 2019

This study was undertaken for Yorkshire Water, as subcontractor to Aecom, to understand the values customers place on water service attributes as part of the 2019 price review process. London Economics conducted an online behavioural experiment to examine customers’ willingness to pay for service improvements and the impact of various framing treatments on customers’ valuations. […]

Future Options for Managing Customer Demand for Water – March 2019

Published:21 March, 2019

Yorkshire Water commissioned London Economics to write a paper on interventions to manage water demand with a special focus on interventions which use behavioural economics. The paper also assessed the effectiveness of temporary use bans (TUBs), commonly known as ‘hosepipe bans’, which must be introduced in times of severe droughts. A rapid evidence assessment of […]

Stakeholder Engagement on Complex and Long-run Issues in the Energy and Water Sectors – November 2016

Published:14 November, 2016

This paper for Sustainability First explores how different research approaches for engaging individual consumers can help uncover long-term public interest in complex areas. The paper covers both quantitative and qualitative methods, and includes behavioural experiments to test consumer responses to alternative interventions. The paper is of use to public interest advocates and energy and water […]

Ofwat Vulnerability Focus Report – February 2016

Published:23 February, 2016

Ofwat’s Vulnerability Focus report with supporting research by London Economics finds that vulnerability can take many forms, people can move in and out of vulnerability and anyone can find themselves in vulnerable circumstances at times in their life. The report is accompanied by a practitioners’ pack that aims to help water companies to identify customers […]

Smart Single Market Regulation – September 2015

Published:29 September, 2015

This study proposes a consolidated governance system that would serve as a tool for smart Single Market regulation toward 2020 and beyond. It outlines areas for improvement in Single Market regulation through the adoption of performance-based policy concepts; and reviews the scope for making better use of the Single Market governance tools to improve the […]

Managing Money Online – Working As Well As We Think? – February 2015

Published:03 February, 2015

This study for the Keep Me Posted Campaign implemented a behavioural experiment and consumer survey in order to analyse consumers’ behaviour and perceptions when they receive transactional mail either by post or electronically.

Ticket Retailing Code of Practice – What Information is Relevant – September 2014

Published:26 September, 2014

This study for the Office of Rail Regulation sets out to examine what information is important to passengers when choosing and buying rail tickets, what information passengers need in order to make informed decisions when selecting tickets, and how and when this information should be provided. The research is based on an online survey and […]

Economic Analysis of Merger in Hong Kong Mobile Telephony Sector – May 2014

Published:05 May, 2014

This final report considers the likely competition effects in Hong Kong telecommunications markets of the proposed acquisition of CSL New World Mobility Limited (CSLNWM) by HKT Limited. We assess whether there is likely to be a substantial lessening of competition (SLC) as a result of the merger; whether there are benefits to the public that […]