Consumer protection through prices: an analysis of the energetic sector in European Union countries
Services of general economic interest (SGEI) are usually offered on markets characterized by monopoly, oligopoly, governmental or local authorities control or other forms of market imperfection. Consequently, issues related to consumer protection also present some particularities. In the energeti...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Editura ASE
2013-06-01
|
| Series: | Amfiteatru Economic |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.amfiteatrueconomic.ro/ArticolEN.aspx?CodArticol=1203 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Services of general economic interest (SGEI) are usually offered on markets characterized
by monopoly, oligopoly, governmental or local authorities control or other forms of market
imperfection. Consequently, issues related to consumer protection also present some
particularities. In the energetic sector, the product offered (electricity) is absolutely
homogeneous, allowing only consumer protection through price. Our study analyzed the
presence of this phenomenon in the 27 countries of the European Union. Data was
collected from official institutions, such as the World Bank, Europe's Energy Portal and the
National Institutes of Statistics of the member states. Based on OLS regressions we
demonstrated the existence of price-based protection for domestic consumers at EU level.
Prices are regulated in such a way as to be correlated with the average wage. As an
additional argument, we demonstrated that the energy price for industrial consumers
follows a different formation mechanism, with main influence factor the energy import
dependence. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1582-9146 2247-9104 |