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Study of the Distributional Performance of Piped Water Consumption Subsidies in 10 Developing Countries

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  • Abramovsky,Laura Fernanda
  • Andres,Luis Alberto
  • Joseph,George
  • Rud,Juan Pablo
  • Sember,German Eduardo
  • Thibert,Michael David

Abstract

This paper provides new evidence on how effectively piped water consumption subsidies are targeting poor households in 10 low- and middle-income countries around the world. The results suggest that, in these countries, existing tariff structures fall short of recovering the costs of service provision, and the resulting subsidies largely fail to achieve their goal of improving the accessibility and affordability of piped water for poor households. Instead, the majority of subsidies in all 10 countries are captured by the richest households. This is in part because the most vulnerable population segments typically face challenges in accessing and connecting to piped water services. The paper also reveals shortcomings in the design of the subsidies, which are conditional on poor households being connected to a piped network.

Suggested Citation

  • Abramovsky,Laura Fernanda & Andres,Luis Alberto & Joseph,George & Rud,Juan Pablo & Sember,German Eduardo & Thibert,Michael David, 2020. "Study of the Distributional Performance of Piped Water Consumption Subsidies in 10 Developing Countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9245, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9245
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    1. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:9:y:2007:i:4:p:1-7 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Kristin Komives & Vivien Foster & Jonathan Halpern & Quentin Wodon, 2005. "Water, Electricity, and the Poor : Who Benefits from Utility Subsidies?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6361.
    3. Diego Angel-Urdinola & Quentin Wodon, 2007. "Do Utility Subsidies Reach the Poor? Framework and Evidence for Cape Verde, Sao Tome, and Rwanda," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 9(4), pages 1-7.
    4. Abubakar, Ismaila Rimi, 2016. "Quality dimensions of public water services in Abuja, Nigeria," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 43-51.
    5. Laura Abramovsky & David Phillips, 2015. "A tax micro-simulator for Mexico (MEXTAX) and its application to the 2010 tax reforms," IFS Working Papers W15/23, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
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    Cited by:

    1. Andres,Luis Alberto & Espineira,Gonzalo & Joseph,George & Sember,German Eduardo & Thibert,Michael David, 2020. "Estimating the Magnitude of Water Supply and Sanitation Subsidies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9448, The World Bank.
    2. Lisa Bagnoli & Salvador Bertomeu-Sanchez & Antonio Estache & Maria Vagliasindi, 2023. "Does the ownership of utilities matter for social outcomes? A survey of the evidence for developing countries," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 24-43, January.

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