In this paper, we provide an analysis of the water sector in France. Together with a description of the specificities of water delivery and the collection and treatment of waste waters, we highlight three crucial points to understand "the French water school"": the organization of the sector,...

We model the interactions between the management mode and costs of water services in order to compare their performances and pricing. We estimate those models on French panel data. We find that the choice by the local authority depends on the service costs and characteristics. There is no...

We model the interactions between management regimes (municipal vs. delegated) and operating costs of water supply services in order to compare their performance and pricing. We estimate the models from panel data in France. We show that the choice between management regimes at the local...

We analyze the contract-based relationship between a local community and a private operator in charge of a water utility. An important feature of the regulation model is the existence of water network losses that may reduce the operator's cost. We derive solutions to the optimal contract both...