International benchmarking for monopoly price regulation: The case of Australian gas distribution

Price-cap regulation is widely applied to network industries. However, regulators often encounter the problem of asymmetric information on efficient costs. Benchmarking can help reduce this problem. We present a benchmarking analysis, conducted for an Australian regulator, that derives measures of efficiency for Australian gas distributors relative to U.S. counterparts. Several techniques, such as data envelopment analysis and stochastic frontier analysis, are used to ensure that our measures are robust to methodology choice. We conclude with a discussion of how the regulator used the benchmarking results, along with other information, to help it determine appropriate price caps.