Foreword and acknowledgements

Regulators help ensure access to and quality of public utilities, facilitate investment and protect market neutrality. Good internal and external governance of regulators is crucial to ensure that they fulfil these functions and perform effectively. Internal governance includes organisational structures, behaviour, accountability, business processes, reporting and performance management, while external governance entails the roles, relationships and distribution of powers and responsibilities with other government and non-government institutions. The OECD has developed an innovative framework that supports good external and internal governance by helping regulators assess functions, practices and behaviour, and identify drivers of performance.