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Do Private Water Utilities Operators Care about Regulatory Agencies in Developing Countries ?

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  • Salvador Bertomeu
  • Daniel Camos-Daurella
  • Antonio Estache

Abstract

This paper shows that the creation of an independent regulatory agency (IRA) is often not a necessary or sufficient condition to help countries attract private participation in the operation and financing of the water and sanitation sector of developing countries. The odds of an impact are, however, significantly higher for Latin American and Caribbean countries and to a lesser extent Eastern European countries, than for any other region. Higher income levels and higher prices are also correlated with a higher effectiveness of IRAs in attracting private sector financing. The analysis of the impact on the various types of PPP contracts shows that, at the margin, IRAs are irrelevant in general, to the contract choice, except for greenfield projects for which IRAs may be counterproductive at the margin.

Suggested Citation

  • Salvador Bertomeu & Daniel Camos-Daurella & Antonio Estache, 2017. "Do Private Water Utilities Operators Care about Regulatory Agencies in Developing Countries ?," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2017-18, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    • Handle: RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/250182
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Camos Daurella,Daniel & Estache,Antonio, 2017. "Regulating water and sanitation network services accounting for institutional and informational constraints," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8149, The World Bank.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    regulation; regulatory agencies; water utilities; privatization; public-private partnerships;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out
    • L38 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Public Policy
    • L43 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Legal Monopolies and Regulation or Deregulation
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L95 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Gas Utilities; Pipelines; Water Utilities
    • L97 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Utilities: General

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