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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Main Authors: Foster, Vivien, Caridad Araujo, Maria
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/01/2872995/infrastructure-reform-work-poor-case-study-guatemala
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13877
id okr-10986-13877
recordtype oai_dc
spelling 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
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