Competition and the reform of incentive schemes in the regulated sector

We consider a regulation problem with complete contracting in a principal-agent model with adverse selection and review within this model the various channels by which external competition parameters affect incentives within the regulated firm. The channels are: the principal's information, the principal's objective function, the agent's incentive constraint, the agent's participation constraint. We consider in particular a better information structure, a threat of liquidation, a fight for talent, a more efficient private sector, and the existence of better substitutes. We characterize in each case the conditions under which the effect on incentives is positive. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science BV All rights reserved.