In the early 1990s Mexico City's Federal District (the D.F.) initiated a series of service contracts with four operators in the private sector, each to be implemented in three stages over ten years. The idea was to introduce competitive pressures and to find out if a "gradualist" aaproach would...

This book explores the interface between environmental and social elements of water pricing policies in OECD countries. It focuses on affordability of water services and social measures aimed at resolving these affordability problems. The book considers how environmental and social safeguards...

This book argues that the economic appeal of using water charges to promote efficiency in usage and pollution control can be constrained by institutional and operational problems. Analysing the cases of France, Mexico and Brazil, the authors--respective local experts--illustrate that barriers...