Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/168790 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Citation: 
[Journal:] Amfiteatru Economic Journal [ISSN:] 2247-9104 [Volume:] 15 [Issue:] 34 [Publisher:] The Bucharest University of Economic Studies [Place:] Bucharest [Year:] 2013 [Pages:] 327-341
Publisher: 
The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest
Abstract: 
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.
Subjects: 
services of general economic interest
consumer protection by price
energy dependence
JEL: 
D18
D12
C21
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article

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