Does Regulation Really Work? : a Principal-agent Approach to the Portuguese Waste Services

In this paper we break new ground by investigating the relationship between organizational characteristics and performance in 'retail' waste management in Portugal for the year 2016. We found that total costs and tariff revenues can be explained by the management model. Municipal corporations seem to present the lowest results, while private sector participation scores the highest levels. This has implications for the Portuguese regulatory agency. The ongoing regulatory framework is still not sufficient to safeguard users' interests such as lower prices. We are focusing on performance results that are influenced by previous contractual agreements. Attached to increasing regulatory power, efforts should be placed at contract negotiation between the parties. [Publisher's text].