Privatisation of public infrastructure has been the mantra of many development agencies since the late 1980s. Water supply is no exception, and various forms of private sector participation (PSP) have been tried in the water and sanitation sector. This article examines the results of these experiments. It suggests that PSP has had mixed results and that in several important respects the private sector seems to be no more efficient in delivering services than the public sector. Despite growing evidence of failures and increasing public pressure against it, privatisation in water and sanitation is still alive, however. Increasingly, it is being repackaged in new forms such as that of public‐private partnership.
This article investigates the link between social security spending and financial crises. In doing so, the article answers two questions: what are the trends in social security spending in the aftermath of a financial crisis, and what factors can possibly explain these changes? The article shows that social security regimes have often been born out of crisis. In addition, on average, social security spending increases over the course of a crisis; however, there is wide regional variation, with advanced countries exhibiting the most countercyclical spending. This article lends support to the idea that crises can be used as an occasion to improve and strengthen social security; in doing so, countries not only mitigate the worst effects of the crisis, but also create better social policy and improve long-term crisis preparedness.
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