Regulation and comparative discretion of publicly and privately owned water companies in The Netherlands, England and Wales

Any water company is subject to regulation, either through bylaws, national or supra-national regulations. In this contribution we assess how these regulatory regimes affect the discretion of privately owned companies in England and Wales and publicly owned water companies in the Netherlands. The issue is studied by comparing the discretion of such companies to pursue strategies of their choice. We look in particular at the constraints and the opportunities posed by the regulatory regime on the providers discretion in dealing with clients, offering products/services, setting tariffs, organizin... Mehr ...