Does Infrastructure Reform Work for the Poor? A Case Study from Guatemala
Following the 1996 Peace Accords, Guatemala embarked on a major program of infrastructure reform involving the restructuring and privatization of the electricity and telecommunications sectors and a substantial increase in infrastructure investment...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/01/2872995/infrastructure-reform-work-poor-case-study-guatemala http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13877 |
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okr-10986-138772021-04-23T14:03:20Z Does Infrastructure Reform Work for the Poor? A Case Study from Guatemala Foster, Vivien Caridad Araujo, Maria BIOMASS CAPITAL COSTS CENTRAL GOVERNMENT COLLABORATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES CONCESSION CONTRACTS COST RECOVERY CUBIC METER DEREGULATION DRINKING WATER ELECTRICITY FUELS HOUSEHOLDS HOUSING ILLEGAL CONNECTIONS LATRINES LICENSES MINIMUM SUBSIDY MINIMUM SUBSIDY CONCESSIONS MUNICIPALITIES PIPELINE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION PRIVATE COMPANIES PRIVATE OPERATOR PRIVATE OPERATORS PRIVATE PARTICIPATION PRIVATE SECTOR PRIVATE SECTOR OPERATORS PROGRAMS PROVISION OF WATER PUMPS QUALITY OF SERVICE QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS RADIO REGULATORY AGENCY REGULATORY FRAMEWORK RIVERS RURAL COMMUNITIES RURAL ELECTRIFICATION RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVES RURAL TELEPHONES RURAL WATER SANITATION SANITATION SECTOR SANITATION SERVICES SAVINGS SEPTIC TANKS SERVICE PROVIDERS SEWERAGE SEWERAGE NETWORK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TELECOMMUNICATION TELECOMMUNICATION SECTORS TELECOMMUNICATIONS TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW TELECOMMUNICATIONS OPERATORS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES TELEDENSITY TELEPHONE LINES TELEPHONES TELEPHONY SERVICES TOWN UNIVERSAL ACCESS URBAN AREAS URBAN COMMUNITIES UTILITIES UTILITY SERVICES WATER WATER NETWORKS WATER PROJECTS WATER QUALITY WATER SECTOR WATER TARIFFS INFRASTRUCTURE CELLULAR MOBILE PHONES LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS APPLIANCES Following the 1996 Peace Accords, Guatemala embarked on a major program of infrastructure reform involving the restructuring and privatization of the electricity and telecommunications sectors and a substantial increase in infrastructure investments partially financed by privatization proceeds. As a result, the pace of new connections to electricity, water, and sanitation services increased by more than 40 percent. Moreover, households in traditionally excluded sectors-the poor, rural, and indigenous populations-were twice as likely to be the beneficiaries of a new infrastructure connection than they had been prior to the Peace Accords. The teledensity index increased by a factor of five from 4.2 in 1997 to 19.7 in 2001, largely because of the growth in cellular telephones, which now outnumber fixed lines. The number of public telephones in rural areas increased by 80 percent since the Peace Accords, so that 80 percent of rural households are now within six kilometers from a public telephone. Although real electricity tariffs increased by 60-80 percent following the reform, residential consumers have been shielded by a "social tariff" policy that has kept charges at pre-reform levels. This policy, which costs US$50 million a year, does little to benefit poor households. The reason is that 60 percent of poor households are not connected to the electricity network, and those that are consume modest amounts of electricity and hence capture only 10 percent of the total value of the subsidy. In contrast, poor households without access to electricity pay about US$11 a kilowatt-hour (or 80 times the electricity tariff) to light their homes with candles and wick lamps. The resources used to finance the "social tariff" would therefore be better used in further accelerating the pace of new connections for currently underserved households. 2013-06-12T21:05:02Z 2013-06-12T21:05:02Z 2004-01 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/01/2872995/infrastructure-reform-work-poor-case-study-guatemala http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13877 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 3185 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Latin America & Caribbean Guatemala |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
BIOMASS CAPITAL COSTS CENTRAL GOVERNMENT COLLABORATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES CONCESSION CONTRACTS COST RECOVERY CUBIC METER DEREGULATION DRINKING WATER ELECTRICITY FUELS HOUSEHOLDS HOUSING ILLEGAL CONNECTIONS LATRINES LICENSES MINIMUM SUBSIDY MINIMUM SUBSIDY CONCESSIONS MUNICIPALITIES PIPELINE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION PRIVATE COMPANIES PRIVATE OPERATOR PRIVATE OPERATORS PRIVATE PARTICIPATION PRIVATE SECTOR PRIVATE SECTOR OPERATORS PROGRAMS PROVISION OF WATER PUMPS QUALITY OF SERVICE QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS RADIO REGULATORY AGENCY REGULATORY FRAMEWORK RIVERS RURAL COMMUNITIES RURAL ELECTRIFICATION RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVES RURAL TELEPHONES RURAL WATER SANITATION SANITATION SECTOR SANITATION SERVICES SAVINGS SEPTIC TANKS SERVICE PROVIDERS SEWERAGE SEWERAGE NETWORK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TELECOMMUNICATION TELECOMMUNICATION SECTORS TELECOMMUNICATIONS TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW TELECOMMUNICATIONS OPERATORS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES TELEDENSITY TELEPHONE LINES TELEPHONES TELEPHONY SERVICES TOWN UNIVERSAL ACCESS URBAN AREAS URBAN COMMUNITIES UTILITIES UTILITY SERVICES WATER WATER NETWORKS WATER PROJECTS WATER QUALITY WATER SECTOR WATER TARIFFS INFRASTRUCTURE CELLULAR MOBILE PHONES LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS APPLIANCES |
| spellingShingle |
BIOMASS CAPITAL COSTS CENTRAL GOVERNMENT COLLABORATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES CONCESSION CONTRACTS COST RECOVERY CUBIC METER DEREGULATION DRINKING WATER ELECTRICITY FUELS HOUSEHOLDS HOUSING ILLEGAL CONNECTIONS LATRINES LICENSES MINIMUM SUBSIDY MINIMUM SUBSIDY CONCESSIONS MUNICIPALITIES PIPELINE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION PRIVATE COMPANIES PRIVATE OPERATOR PRIVATE OPERATORS PRIVATE PARTICIPATION PRIVATE SECTOR PRIVATE SECTOR OPERATORS PROGRAMS PROVISION OF WATER PUMPS QUALITY OF SERVICE QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS RADIO REGULATORY AGENCY REGULATORY FRAMEWORK RIVERS RURAL COMMUNITIES RURAL ELECTRIFICATION RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVES RURAL TELEPHONES RURAL WATER SANITATION SANITATION SECTOR SANITATION SERVICES SAVINGS SEPTIC TANKS SERVICE PROVIDERS SEWERAGE SEWERAGE NETWORK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TELECOMMUNICATION TELECOMMUNICATION SECTORS TELECOMMUNICATIONS TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW TELECOMMUNICATIONS OPERATORS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES TELEDENSITY TELEPHONE LINES TELEPHONES TELEPHONY SERVICES TOWN UNIVERSAL ACCESS URBAN AREAS URBAN COMMUNITIES UTILITIES UTILITY SERVICES WATER WATER NETWORKS WATER PROJECTS WATER QUALITY WATER SECTOR WATER TARIFFS INFRASTRUCTURE CELLULAR MOBILE PHONES LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS APPLIANCES Foster, Vivien Caridad Araujo, Maria Does Infrastructure Reform Work for the Poor? A Case Study from Guatemala |
| geographic_facet |
Latin America & Caribbean Guatemala |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 3185 |
| description |
Following the 1996 Peace Accords,
Guatemala embarked on a major program of infrastructure
reform involving the restructuring and privatization of the
electricity and telecommunications sectors and a substantial
increase in infrastructure investments partially financed by
privatization proceeds. As a result, the pace of new
connections to electricity, water, and sanitation services
increased by more than 40 percent. Moreover, households in
traditionally excluded sectors-the poor, rural, and
indigenous populations-were twice as likely to be the
beneficiaries of a new infrastructure connection than they
had been prior to the Peace Accords. The teledensity index
increased by a factor of five from 4.2 in 1997 to 19.7 in
2001, largely because of the growth in cellular telephones,
which now outnumber fixed lines. The number of public
telephones in rural areas increased by 80 percent since the
Peace Accords, so that 80 percent of rural households are
now within six kilometers from a public telephone. Although
real electricity tariffs increased by 60-80 percent
following the reform, residential consumers have been
shielded by a "social tariff" policy that has kept
charges at pre-reform levels. This policy, which costs US$50
million a year, does little to benefit poor households. The
reason is that 60 percent of poor households are not
connected to the electricity network, and those that are
consume modest amounts of electricity and hence capture only
10 percent of the total value of the subsidy. In contrast,
poor households without access to electricity pay about
US$11 a kilowatt-hour (or 80 times the electricity tariff)
to light their homes with candles and wick lamps. The
resources used to finance the "social tariff"
would therefore be better used in further accelerating the
pace of new connections for currently underserved households. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Foster, Vivien Caridad Araujo, Maria |
| author_facet |
Foster, Vivien Caridad Araujo, Maria |
| author_sort |
Foster, Vivien |
| title |
Does Infrastructure Reform Work for the Poor? A Case Study from Guatemala |
| title_short |
Does Infrastructure Reform Work for the Poor? A Case Study from Guatemala |
| title_full |
Does Infrastructure Reform Work for the Poor? A Case Study from Guatemala |
| title_fullStr |
Does Infrastructure Reform Work for the Poor? A Case Study from Guatemala |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Does Infrastructure Reform Work for the Poor? A Case Study from Guatemala |
| title_sort |
does infrastructure reform work for the poor? a case study from guatemala |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/01/2872995/infrastructure-reform-work-poor-case-study-guatemala http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13877 |
| _version_ |
1764429860080451584 |