Public Choice and Urban Water Tariffs - Analytical Framework and Evidence From Peru

• Many developing countries face the challenge to implement water sector reforms to improve service quality. Our analysis focuses primarily on barriers to increases in water tariffs, which are usually a main pillar of water sector reforms. Discussing the case of Peru, we illustrate that the specific structure of voting water users together with the self-interest driven behavior of politicians on the local and central level can explain why actors refrain from implementing higher water tariffs. Water suppliers on the local level are subject to strong political interference by local politicians. To address such barriers, water tariff reforms may need to be accompanied by more fundamental institutional reforms, for example, by merging local to regional water suppliers, as well as by public campaigns making the use of funds from tariff increments for service improvements more transparent and tangible for water users.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap -- Studier av offentlig förvaltning (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science -- Public Administration Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Nationalekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Economics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Peru

political economy

public choice

water sector reform

water tariffs

regulatory capture

pressure groups

competition

government

politics

reform

policy

costs

Environmental Sciences & Ecology

Public Administration

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)