Regulation and Systemic Transformation

Economic regulation, understood both as regulatory activities of authorities and as regulatory institutions, exists in any economy and is not a constitutive characteristic of any economic (or political) system; its form and methods are, however, and therefore must change in the process of systemic transformation. The form that regulation, defined as an element and tool of public policy (towards different sectors of the economy), takes depends also on economic (and political) systems and their internal structures, on the level of economic development, and on the economic policies actually pursued, as well as on the specific characteristics of various regulatees. Taking into account this multidimensional, dynamic reality we shall start this paper with some general remarks on transition from Soviet-type economies (STEs) to market ones (Section 2). In Section 3 we shall present equally general observations on various aspects of regulation in market economies. The next section will be devoted to regulation in the strict sense of the word, i.e. to regulation of public utilities (network industries). Returning our attention in Section 5 to post-STEs we shall analyse and discuss above all the issue of regulation, both sensu stricto and sensu largo, on the way back towards capitalism. The last section of this paper will try to present some normative remarks and suggestions regarding the regulatory structure to be created and policy to be pursued in the medium to longer run. All of this will be illustrated using as examples the electricity supply and telecommunications industries in the UK and Poland.