Infrastructure Services

Abstract

The organisation of infrastructure industries in OECD countries has undergone massive changes in the past thirty years. Taken as a whole, their experience constitutes a rich source of information on infrastructure service industries and their governance. Such information can be of great value for the People’s Republic of China, where infrastructure development will be one of the major development challenges in the years to come. The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the experience of OECD countries in the management of their infrastructure service industries, and draw some lessons of relevance for policy making in China. The first part of the note provides a sketch of the public utility model that prevailed in most infrastructure industries of OECD countries until the end of the 1970s, discusses why and how this model has been challenged and gradually modified in the past thirty years, and illustrates some of the opportunities and risks of the reform process through three examples. The second part proposes a more detailed analysis of the main issues that infrastructure industries pose to policy makers today and some possible responses. The third part summarises the policy lessons drawn from the recent experience of OECD countries and examines what this entails for the management of infrastructure services in China.