Does Private Sector Participation Improve Performance in Electricity and Water Distribution?

by Katharina Gassner, Alexander Popov, Nataliya Pushak

Overview

Does Private Sector Participation (PSP) Improve Performance in Electricity and Water Distribution? This question has proven deceptively difficult to answer in the context of utilities in developing economies. The authors examine the question of private versus public performance in a natural monopoly setting. They address the shortfalls of earlier research and arrive at fact-based conclusions that are robust globally. Using a data set of more than 1,200 utilities in 71 developing and transition economies-the largest known data set in the area-this study finds that privately operated utilities convincingly outperform state-run ones in operational performance and labor productivity.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940000195093
Publisher:	World Bank Publications
Publication date:	10/10/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Acknowledgments xi

About the Authors xiii

Abbreviations xv

Overview 1

The Study 2

The Results 3

Conclusion 5

1 Introduction 7

Analytical Framework and Data 8

Empirical Approach 10

Transition Period and Contract Type 10

Limitations and Caveats 11

2 Empirical Literature 13

Techniques 13

Findings 14

3 Selection of the Sample 17

Treatment Group: Utilities with PSP 18

Control Group: State-Owned Utilities 20

Final Sample 22

4 Empirical Methodology 27

Overview of Empirical Analysis 28

Panel Data Analysis 29

Difference-in-Differences Estimation 30

5 Empirical Results 33

Electricity 39

Water 42

Sanitation 45

6 Conclusion 47

Appendixes

A Core Indicators 51

B Variable Sources, Construction, and Estimations 63

C Cox Proportionate Hazard Estimates 65

D Regression Results 69

Bibliography 87

Index 93