This policy paper offers a synthesis of research on privatisation and its impacts on the utilities sector in different countries. It identifies issues to be considered by policy makers concerned with economic reform, including the implications of sequencing privatisation together with competition, regulation and industry restructuring; the role and importance of an independent regulatory agency; and the impact of introducing competition into utility markets. In addition to assessing reform through the more conventional method of examining productivity gains, it considers the distribution of the broader benefits from reform among key stakeholders–government, investors and consumers.