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

Introducing private sector participation (PSP) into the water and sewerage sectors is difficult and controversial. Empirical studies on its effects are scant and generally inconclusive. Case studies tend to find improvements following privatisation, but they suffer from selection bias and it is diff...

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Main Authors: Clarke, George R. G., Kosec, Katrina, Wallsten, Scott
Format: Journal Article
Language:EN
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5536
id okr-10986-5536
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-55362021-04-23T14:02:22Z Has Private Participation in Water and Sewerage Improved Coverage? Empirical Evidence from Latin America Clarke, George R. G. Kosec, Katrina Wallsten, Scott Publicly Provided Goods: Mixed Markets H440 Comparison of Public and Private Enterprises Privatization Contracting Out L330 Economic Development: Agriculture Natural Resources Energy Environment Other Primary Products O130 Renewable Resources and Conservation: Water Q250 Air Pollution Water Pollution Noise Hazardous Waste Solid Waste Recycling Q530 Introducing private sector participation (PSP) into the water and sewerage sectors is difficult and controversial. Empirical studies on its effects are scant and generally inconclusive. Case studies tend to find improvements following privatisation, but they suffer from selection bias and it is difficult to generalise their results. To explore empirically the effects of private sector participation on coverage, we assemble a new dataset of connections to water and sewerage services at the city and province level based on household surveys in Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil. The household surveys, conducted over a number of years, allow us to compile data before and after the introduction of private sector participation as well as from similar (control) regions did not privatise. Our analysis reveals that, in general, the share of households connected to piped water and sewerage improved following the introduction of private sector participation, consistent with the case study literature. We also find, however, that the share of households connected similarly improved in the control regions, suggesting that private sector participation, per se, may not have been responsible for those improvements. Results are similar when looking only at the poorest households. The share of poor households connected to piped water and sewerage increased similarly in areas both with and without private sector participation, suggesting that--in terms of connections at least--private sector participation did not harm the poor. 2012-03-30T07:33:18Z 2012-03-30T07:33:18Z 2009 Journal Article Journal of International Development 09541748 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5536 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article Argentina Bolivia Brazil
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language EN
topic Publicly Provided Goods: Mixed Markets H440
Comparison of Public and Private Enterprises
Privatization
Contracting Out L330
Economic Development: Agriculture
Natural Resources
Energy
Environment
Other Primary Products O130
Renewable Resources and Conservation: Water Q250
Air Pollution
Water Pollution
Noise
Hazardous Waste
Solid Waste
Recycling Q530
spellingShingle Publicly Provided Goods: Mixed Markets H440
Comparison of Public and Private Enterprises
Privatization
Contracting Out L330
Economic Development: Agriculture
Natural Resources
Energy
Environment
Other Primary Products O130
Renewable Resources and Conservation: Water Q250
Air Pollution
Water Pollution
Noise
Hazardous Waste
Solid Waste
Recycling Q530
Clarke, George R. G.
Kosec, Katrina
Wallsten, Scott
Has Private Participation in Water and Sewerage Improved Coverage? Empirical Evidence from Latin America
geographic_facet Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
relation http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description Introducing private sector participation (PSP) into the water and sewerage sectors is difficult and controversial. Empirical studies on its effects are scant and generally inconclusive. Case studies tend to find improvements following privatisation, but they suffer from selection bias and it is difficult to generalise their results. To explore empirically the effects of private sector participation on coverage, we assemble a new dataset of connections to water and sewerage services at the city and province level based on household surveys in Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil. The household surveys, conducted over a number of years, allow us to compile data before and after the introduction of private sector participation as well as from similar (control) regions did not privatise. Our analysis reveals that, in general, the share of households connected to piped water and sewerage improved following the introduction of private sector participation, consistent with the case study literature. We also find, however, that the share of households connected similarly improved in the control regions, suggesting that private sector participation, per se, may not have been responsible for those improvements. Results are similar when looking only at the poorest households. The share of poor households connected to piped water and sewerage increased similarly in areas both with and without private sector participation, suggesting that--in terms of connections at least--private sector participation did not harm the poor.
format Journal Article
author Clarke, George R. G.
Kosec, Katrina
Wallsten, Scott
author_facet Clarke, George R. G.
Kosec, Katrina
Wallsten, Scott
author_sort Clarke, George R. G.
title Has Private Participation in Water and Sewerage Improved Coverage? Empirical Evidence from Latin America
title_short Has Private Participation in Water and Sewerage Improved Coverage? Empirical Evidence from Latin America
title_full Has Private Participation in Water and Sewerage Improved Coverage? Empirical Evidence from Latin America
title_fullStr Has Private Participation in Water and Sewerage Improved Coverage? Empirical Evidence from Latin America
title_full_unstemmed Has Private Participation in Water and Sewerage Improved Coverage? Empirical Evidence from Latin America
title_sort has private participation in water and sewerage improved coverage? empirical evidence from latin america
publishDate 2012
url http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5536
_version_ 1764395405845463040