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Private Provision of Water Service in Brazil: Impacts on Access and Affordability

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  • Oliveira, Andre R de

Abstract

Brazil has been experimenting with Private Sector Participation (PSP) in the water and sanitation sector in various forms since the mid-nineties, one of the most common being concession contracts. Currently, 25% of the population is served by companies with private sector participation and this figure could grow to 36% within 10 years. This paper studies past and ongoing experiences with private provision of water services in Brazil and assesses their impact on access and affordability indicators. It also discusses the social policies in place to improve those indicators, especially those targeting the poor. It uses different estimation methods and datasets to determine whether or not there is any difference in access to water supply and ability to pay water bills between municipalities that opted to entrust the provision of water services with private operators and those that kept them public. Moreover, whenever possible, the analysis is broken down by income (GDP) deciles in an attempt to evaluate the impact of private provision on lower income families. The results obtained entail the conclusion that PSP in Brazil has delivered higher access to water services, benefiting mostly the poor. They are inconclusive regarding affordability of water services though.

Suggested Citation

  • Oliveira, Andre R de, 2008. "Private Provision of Water Service in Brazil: Impacts on Access and Affordability," MPRA Paper 11149, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:11149
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Andrei Shleifer, 1998. "State versus Private Ownership," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 133-150, Fall.
    2. Ronaldo Seroa da Motta & Ajax R.B. Moreira, 2004. "Efficiency and Regulation in the Sanitation Sector in Brazil," Discussion Papers 1059, Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada - IPEA.
    3. Sebastian Galiani & Paul Gertler & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2005. "Water for Life: The Impact of the Privatization of Water Services on Child Mortality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(1), pages 83-120, February.
    4. Seroa da Motta, Ronaldo & Moreira, Ajax, 2006. "Efficiency and regulation in the sanitation sector in Brazil," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 185-195, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bel, Germà, 2020. "Public versus private water delivery, remunicipalization and water tariffs," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. López-Ruiz, Samara & Tortajada, Cecilia & González-Gómez, Francisco, 2020. "Is the human right to water sufficiently protected in Spain? Affordability and governance concerns," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    3. Undp, 2011. "HDR 2011 - Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All," Human Development Report (1990 to present), Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), number hdr2011, September.
    4. Barbosa, Alexandro & Brusca, Isabel, 2015. "Governance structures and their impact on tariff levels of Brazilian water and sanitation corporations," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 94-105.
    5. Sylvia CESAR, 2019. "Privatization Of Water: Evaluating Its Performance In The Developing World," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 90(1), pages 5-23, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Water services; access; affordability; panel data; private sector participation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L95 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Gas Utilities; Pipelines; Water Utilities
    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out

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