Springer Privatization of Public City Gas Utilities (Kobe University Monograph Series in Social Science Research)

This book is a study on the Japanese city gas industry, which has been rapidly liberalized in recent years. Especially, it focuses on the background, reasons, methods, and effects of the privatization of publicly owned city gas utilities in Japan.  In Japan, after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the liberalization of the electric power and gas business has progressed rapidly. There are a number of studies on the reform of Japan's electricity market, but there are few studies on city gas business.   This book describes the state of Japan's public city gas utilities and the necessity of their privatization. And it explains the role of concession as a method of privatization. Then it verifies that the effects of past privatization cases are insufficient. The book also covers deregulation of public utilities in Europe, which triggered Japan's liberalization of its energy and other public utility sectors, and privatization of electricity and gas businesses in India, a developing country in Asia. Finally, this book explores future regulation and business of city gas industry. Pipeline network should be regulated to comply with future unbundling starting from 2022, and gas business altogether with electricity and water businesses need more digitization.  From the Back Cover This book is a study on the Japanese city gas industry, which has been rapidly liberalized in recent years. Especially, it focuses on the background, reasons, methods, and effects of the privatization of publicly owned city gas utilities in Japan.  In Japan, after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the liberalization of the electric power and gas business has progressed rapidly. There are a number of studies on the reform of Japan's electricity market, but there are few studies on city gas business.  This book describes the state of Japan's public city gas utilities and the necessity of their privatization. And it explains the role of concession as a method of privatization. Then it verifies that the effects of past privatization cases are insufficient. The book also covers deregulation of public utilities in Europe, which triggered Japan's liberalization of its energy and other public utility sectors, and privatization of electricity and gas businesses in India, a developing country in Asia. Finally, this book explores future regulation and business of city gas industry. Pipeline network should be regulated to comply with future unbundling starting from 2022, and gas business altogether with electricity and water businesses need more digitization.  About the Author Takashi Yanagawa Kobe University  Takashi Yanagawa is a professor at the Graduate School of Economics at Kobe University, Japan, where he specializes in industrial organization. His work includes Risks and Regulation of New Technologies (edited jointly with Tsuyoshi Matsuda and Jonathan Wolff, Springer, 2020), Introduction to Econo-Legal Studies (edited jointly with Hiroshi Takahashi and Shinya Ouchi, Yuhikaku, 2014, in Japanese; China Machine Press, 2017, in Chinese; and currently being translated into English), among others. At present he is working on research projects having to do with the competition policies of platform businesses, energy market reform under the Paris Agreement, and econo-legal studies. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. He was formerly the director of the Interfaculty Initiative in the Social Sciences at Kobe University and was also the vice-dean of the Organization for Advanced and Integrated Research at Kobe University. He was a visiting researcher at the Japan Fair Trade Commission, the London School of Economics, and the University of California at Berkeley. He was the president of the Japan Economic Policy Association and is currently a board member of the Japan Economic Policy Association and the Public Utility Economics Association. He is also a co-editor of the Internatio