The authors focus on policy interventions for improving irrigation water allocation decisions by including both macro and micro considerations in a unified analytical computable general equilibrium (CGE) framework. The approach is demonstrated, using the case of Morocco, by analyzing selected...

Estache and Rossi estimate a stochastic costs frontier for a sample of Asian and Pacific water companies, comparing the performance of public and privatized companies based on detailed firm-specific information published by the Asian Development Bank in 1997. They find private operators of water...

The environment and security literature has argued that freshwater scarcity often leads to inter-state conflict, and possibly acute violence. The contention, however, ignores the long history of hydro-political cooperation exemplified by hundreds of documented agreements. Building on a theory...

The signing of a concession contract for the Buenos Aires water and sanitation system in December 1992, attracted worldwide attention, and caused considerable controversy in Argentina. It was one of the world's largest concessions, but the case was also interesting for other reasons. The...

When the Gambia, Guinea, and Senegal decided to involve the private sector in the provision of water services, they also established state holding companies - state-owned entities with exclusive or partial responsibilities for: a) owning infrastructure assets; b) planning and financing...

In 1989 the government of Guinea enacted far-reaching reform of its water sector, which had been dominated by a poorly run public agency. The government signed a lease contract for operations and maintenance with a private operator, making a separate public enterprise responsible for ownershipof...

As populations expand and make various uses of water, its growing scarcity becomes a serious issue in developing countries such as Bangladesh. Water can no longer be considered a totally free resource and plans must be developed for its efficient use through better management and rules that...

The case in Mexico City offered an opportunity to observe the advantages, and disadvantages of gradualist reform. Unfortunately, the authors find that the long-term nature of an incremental approach does not match well with the generally shorter-term horizons of elected politicians. Difficult...

This paper provides an overview of approaches to the economic regulation of piped water supply and sewerage systems. The discussion emphasizes the particular importance that quality issues take on in water systems relative to any other infrastructure sector. Water quality is obviously important...

Economic efficiency has to do with how much wealth a given resource base can generate. Equity has to do with how that wealth is to be distributed in society. Economic efficiency gets far more attention, in part because equity considerations involve value judgements that vary from person to...