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Paths to universalize water and sewage services in Brazil: The role of regulatory authorities in promoting efficient service

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  • Carvalho, Anne Emília Costa
  • Sampaio, Luciano Menezes Bezerra

Abstract

The 2007 institution of a regulatory framework established ways to overcome deficits in Brazil's sanitation services, including economic efficiency. This study analyzes the performance of regulatory authorities in promoting the efficiency of water and sewage service providers in Brazil. The study was developed in three stages: analysis of efficiency with Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for 2006 and 2011; assessment of productivity using the Malmquist Index (MI); and document analysis of regulatory standards. Among the results, significant inefficiencies were detected and the mean for pure technical efficiency was higher among unregulated providers both for 2006 and in 2011. The MI showed gains in productivity from 2006 to 2011. The decomposed analysis of the index indicated a shift in the efficiency frontier to a higher level, but with a decrease in the providers' pure efficiency. From the analysis of the regulatory activity, we identified regulators that had not issued regulatory standards related to the promotion of allocative or productive efficiency. Analysis of the results shows that the regulatory performance has not ensured that providers achieve better performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Carvalho, Anne Emília Costa & Sampaio, Luciano Menezes Bezerra, 2015. "Paths to universalize water and sewage services in Brazil: The role of regulatory authorities in promoting efficient service," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-10.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:34:y:2015:i:c:p:1-10
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2015.03.001
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    6. Sampaio, P.R.P. & Sampaio, R.S.R, 2020. "The challenges of regulating water and sanitation tariffs under a three-level shared-authority federalism model: The case of Brazil," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    7. Barbosa, Alexandro & Lima, Severino Cesário de & Brusca, Isabel, 2016. "Governance and efficiency in the Brazilian water utilities: A dynamic analysis in the process of universal access," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(PA), pages 82-96.
    8. Alvaro Cavalcanti & Arthur Teixeira & Karen Pontes, 2020. "Evaluation of the Efficiency of Basic Sanitation Integrated Management in Brazilian Municipalities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-29, December.
    9. Peci, Alketa & D’Assunção, Márcio Leite & Holperin, Michelle Moretzsohn & de Souza, Celso Florêncio, 2017. "Regulation inside government: The challenges of regulating a government-owned utility," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 61-70.
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    11. Bertoméu-Sánchez, Salvador & Camos, Daniel & Estache, Antonio, 2018. "Do economic regulatory agencies matter to private-sector involvement in water utilities in developing countries?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 153-163.

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