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Biography of Sanford V. Berg

Dr. Sanford Berg is director of Water Studies at the Public Utility Research Center (PURC) and a distinguished service professor in the University of Florida Warrington College of Business Administration. He is responsible for promoting research and outreach activities in the field of regulatory economics. His current research examines a variety of regulatory issues facing infrastructure providers. Dr. Berg has served on the launch committee for the UF Water Institute and is a current member of its faculty advisory committee.

Dr. Berg’s research has focused on infrastructure industries: the role of research and development in determining the basic industry conditions and the role of public policy in determining sector performance. Regulatory incentives shape managerial decisions regarding prices, facilities, contracts, service quality, and network expansion. Because of its work with regulatory commissions and utilities around the world, PURC has created a library of material on infrastructure policy and regulatory governance. Dr. Berg has examined the role of network industries in economic growth and the promotion of innovative approaches to improving water sector performance.

For 30 years, Dr. Berg served as director of PURC and remains the Florida Public Utilities Professor. He has provided consulting services to a number of utilities and government organizations in the U.S. and abroad, including Southern Company and the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment. During the past several years, he has led nearly 20 workshops for the Florida Public Service Commission on both specialized topics and general introductions to regulatory issues. He also served on the Governor's Energy 2020 Study Commission to make recommendations to the Florida Legislature regarding electricity restructuring.

His international work has led to a number of projects. In collaboration with World Bank staff, he designed the curriculum and directs the PURC/World Bank International Training Program on Utility Regulation and Strategy, a two-week course presented twice yearly in Gainesville since 1997. He has delivered regulatory training programs abroad and presentations in Costa Rica, Portugal, Bulgaria, Sweden, Russia, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Japan, China, Australia, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Saudi Arabia, and Uganda. His research on infrastructure economics and the political economy of regulation has appeared in a wide number of journals.

Professor Berg teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in microeconomics, managerial economics, and government regulation. His interest in applying new technologies to the educational process led to his developing the first UF course for its Internet MBA program. He has been recognized for teaching excellence within academia, receiving a number of awards, including UF Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars in 2008; Outstanding MBA Faculty Award Internet Classes of 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003, and 2002; Outstanding MBA Core Faculty Award in 2008 and 2003; UF Distinguished International Educator Award in 2004; Distinguished Service Professor in 1995; UF Nominee for Carnegie Foundation Professor of the Year in 1994; Florida Blue Key Distinguished Faculty Award in 1994; Outstanding University Undergraduate Teacher of the Year in 1993; and University Teacher/Scholar of the Year in 1998-99.

Dr. Berg has published more than 100 journal articles on a variety of topics, has served as a referee/reviewer for numerous journals and publications, and has co-authored or edited four books: Joint Venture Strategies and Corporate Innovation, with Jerome Duncan and Philip Friedman, OG&H, Publishers, Cambridge, MA 1982; Innovative Electric Rates: Issues in Cost-Benefit Analysis, ed. Lexington Books, 1983; Natural Monopoly Regulation: Principles and Practice, with John Tschirhart, Cambridge University Press, 1988; Private Initiatives in Infrastructure: Priorities, Incentives and Performance, co-editors Masatusugu Tsuji and Michaell G. Pollitt, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2002. His eight articles in Water21 examine investment, pricing, and incentive issues facing regulators and water systems managers.

He and wife, Catherine, live in Gainesville. He plays the clarinet in a Dixieland band, the Hogtown Strutters. His other hobbies include hiking, canoeing, reading, and friendships.

Education

Ph.D. Yale University, 1970
M.A. Yale University, 1968
B.A. University of Washington, 1966

Areas of Expertise

Market Organization, Public Utilities Economics, Regulatory Policy, Industrial Organization