Regulatory reform and productivity growth in the UK's public utilities

The reforms in the regulation of the UK'nationalised industries over the last decade are examined and the extent to which they have been successful in achieving one of their declared aims – that of increasing the efficiency of the enterprises' operations – is considered. To achieve this the productivity performance of nine of the largest enterprises over the last twenty years was analysed. The results show that the rate of productivity growth has been significantly higher during the 1980s, compared with the preceeding decade. It is concluded that a large part of the observed upturn in productivity is a result of changes in efficiency.