Separation of regulators against collusive behavior

We show that the separation of powers in regulation may act as a commitment against the threat of regulatory capture. Splitting regulatory tasks and m onitoring technologies among several nonbenevolent regulators may reduce th eir discretion in engaging in socially wasteful activities.; When regulator s make collusive offers that are accepted by the agent whatever his charact eristics, competition between regulators relaxes collusion-proofness constr aints and improves social welfare. This result is robust to different speci fications of the agent's preferences and to the timing of the game as long as one insists on safe side-contracting offers. We also discuss how separat ion affects both allocative efficiency and the distribution of rents in the economy.