Has Private Participation in Water and Sewerage Improved Coverage? Empirical Evidence from Latin America

Wallsten, Scott ; Kosec, Katrina ; Clarke, George R. G.

Washington, DC:World Bank

关键词: BANKS;    BIDDING;    BROAD RANGE;    COMMERCIAL BANKS;    CONSUMER SATISFACTION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-3445
RP-ID  :  WPS3445

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Introducing private sector participation(PSP) into the water and sewerage sectors in developingcountries is difficult and controversial. Empirical studieson its effects are scant and generally inconclusive. Casestudies tend to find improvements in the sector followingprivatization, but they suffer from selection bias, and itis difficult to generalize from their results. To exploreempirically the effects of PSP on coverage, we assemble anew dataset of connections to water and sewerage services atthe city, and province level, based on household surveys inArgentina, Bolivia, and Brazil. The household surveys,conducted over a number of years, allow us to compile data,before and after the introduction of PSP, as well as fromsimilar (control) regions that never privatized at all. Ouranalysis reveals that, in general, connection rates to pipedwater and sewerage, improved following the introduction ofPSP, consistent with the case study literature. We alsofind, however, that connection rates similarly improved inthe control regions, suggesting that PSP, per se, may nothave been responsible for those improvements. On the otherhand, connection rates for the poorest households alsotended to increase in the regions with PSP, and in thecontrol regions, suggesting that-in terms of connections atleast-PSP did not harm the poor.