Investing in Water Quality: Measuring Benefits, Costs and Risks, explores the methods and analytical tools available for making better investment decisions when our knowledge of the costs and benefits of water quality improvement is imprecise and the future is uncertain. The study demonstrates...

During the past two decades, Latin American countries have made pioneering efforts in reforming infrastructure services. The "first generation of reforms" encompassed widespread privatization, deregulation and restructuring of the provision of energy, water, transport and telecommunications...

Latin America loses about nine trillion cubic meters of water each year, or some 30 percent of the water collected and treated for public consumption. While it is impossible for water systems to deliver 100 percent of their water to the household tap, Latin America could cut those losses by more...

This paper studies the effects of water sector privatization on consumers' welfare in 46 municipalities in Colombia. The paper evaluates the impact of privatization on access, price, and quality of water as well as health outcomes using differences-in-differences methodology with variation...

This document is a synthesis of the region's most pertinent top priorities, of achievements undergone during recent years, and of the challenges and opportunities the region will face in the near future.Abstract: Los países pertenecientes a la región andina han realizado, durante los últimos...

To choose better water investments we need to have a better appreciation of what is possible with improved governance, of how to identify improved governance, how to design institutions for it, and how to incorporate it into planning and investments. This paper reviews the theoretical and...

This work presents a case study on solid waste management in the city of Rio de Janeiro. This privately-owned initiative involves the application of market instruments to boost the recycling of used plastic bottles.Abstract: Este trabajo presenta un estudio de caso exitoso implementado en la...

This paper examines the effects of the expansion of the water network in urban shantytowns in Argentina. The authors find large reductions in the presence, frequency, and severity of diarrhea episodes among children in the households reached by network expansions relative to the control group....

This is the latest version available of "Do We Know What Works": A Systematic Review of Impact Evaluations of Social Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean¿. The document reviews social programs placing emphasis on extracting lessons from those that have been evaluated in order to assess...

The purpose of this document is to present a brief summary of the economic instruments in use for solid waste management in the region and to present two case studies of such use in Chile. These case studies refer to the industrial organization for the collection and disposal of residential...