Consumer participation and pro-poor regulation in Latin America

Abstract

In spite of not being 'public goods' in the strict sense of the term, public provision has been a common way of supplying utilities services around the world. Among the major reasons underlying the dominant position of the public sector as the provider of infrastructure are the recognition of the economic and political importance of infrastructure for development, and the faith that government provision could offset market failures characterizing the utilities market. However, under public provision, universal access to the services remained elusive, with large sectors of the population being excluded. At the same time, the financing of services became a heavy burden on government budgets. As documented elsewhere in the research project, a major move towards privatization started in Latin America in the 1980s and early 1990s following the pioneering experiences of Chile's and the UK's infrastructure reform.

The Impact of Regulation on Economic Growth in Developing Countries: A Cross-Country Analysis

“…"Asia's governments rely too much on under-equipped and unsupported independent regulators to carry out tasks that are beyond their capabilities" (Jacobs, 2004: 4). In Latin America there is often a lack of political support for independent regulation and a lack of commitment to maintaining regulatory independence (Ugaz, 2003). In the context of Africa, it was found that "regulation is being examined as part of individual sector initiatives, but these efforts are uncoordinated, and implementation is being left to follow privatization instead of being put in place concurrently" (Campbell-White and Bhatia, 1998: 5).…”

Water privatization and public health in Latin America

“…Published between 1995 and 2005, these studies evaluated the effects of privatizations in Latin America that occurred between 1989 and 2000. We summarize other studies not of a strictly comparative nature in Table 2 (13)(14)(15)(16)(17). Next, to elucidate further the challenges of water privatization, we briefly examine the experiences of three cities in Bolivia: Cochabamba, El Alto, and La Paz.…”

“…The request for a substantial rate increase follows heavy losses that the company suffered from Argentina's 2002 freezing of utility rates and con-version of those rates to devalued pesos. Several studies (7,13,16) note the difficulties of implementing appropriate regulatory frameworks for protecting the public from exploitative pricing. Ugaz (16) notes that while regulation has been successful in protecting investors and achieving efficiency gains, rising utility prices cast doubt on how effectively regulation has protected poor consumers.…”

“…Several studies (7,13,16) note the difficulties of implementing appropriate regulatory frameworks for protecting the public from exploitative pricing. Ugaz (16) notes that while regulation has been successful in protecting investors and achieving efficiency gains, rising utility prices cast doubt on how effectively regulation has protected poor consumers. Furthermore, Ugaz notes that the lack of competition and transparency that plagued public utility provision still characterizes private utility provision after a decade of privatization.…”

Privatization Discontent and it's Determinants: Evidence from Latin America

“…Particularly, these country studies seem very sensitive to the fact that some government increased tariff before privatization. On the other hand, Ugaz (2002) remarks that privatization implied new tariff structures which was more cost-reflective. For the three countries she considers, she finds the same pattern of rebalancing: an increase in fixed charges and a decrease in variable unit prices.…”