International Trends in Water Utility Regimes

Madhoo, Yeti Nisha

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8292.2007.00328.x

“…Most governments have also demonstrated a growing degree of interest in water agency performance and conformity with environmental, financial and/or price-setting regulations. The degree of regulation of local water agencies, however, varies significantly across jurisdictions (Madhoo, 2007). Perhaps the most comprehensive regulatory environment is found in England and Wales where the privatization of water agencies under the Thatcher government was combined with extensive assessment of water agency performance and regulation of price setting.…”

Section: Institutional Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring the Technical Efficiency of Municipal Water Suppliers: The Role of Environmental Factors

Renzetti¹,

Dupont²

2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper extends the multistage procedure set out in Fried et al (1999) to examine the importance of environmental factors when assessing the technical efficiency of water agencies. However, following Simar and Wilson's (2007) critique of multistage efficiency analyses, the paper uses a bootstrapping approach in order to have consistent inference. Data are from a cross-section of municipal water agencies in Ontario, Canada during 1996. The main findings are that environmental factors explain some of the observed variation in efficiency scores and that water agencies' relative efficiency scores are changed substantially after controlling for environmental factors.

show abstract

“…The concentration of power within central 'elite' departments of upper tier policy circles has prevented any real sustained flow of resources to lower tier actors and implementing institutions (Farazmand, 1999 2000). Other streams deal mainly with public management and economics (Madhoo, 2007). Some governance studies have examined the preconditions of decentralization (Sellers and Lidstrom, 2008).…”

Section: Developments In Cpa Research and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Service Delivery To Informal Settlements In South Asia's Mega Cities: the Role Of State and Non-State Actors

Shaheen¹

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This interdisciplinary research project compares service delivery outcomes to informal settlements in South Asia’s largest urban centres: Dhaka, Karachi and Mumbai. These mega cities have been overwhelmed by increasing demands on limited service delivery capacity as growing clusters of informal settlements, home to significant numbers of informal sector workers, struggle to obtain basic services. In the absence of state supports, some informal settlements engage non‐state actors to obtain services. In order to compare service delivery outcomes through these actors, I used a layered, mixed methods approach guided by an interdisciplinary literature review and policy examination. I drew on semi‐ structured interviews as well as pairs of case studies to measure successful and unsuccessful service delivery outcomes in each of the three mega cities. Key findings are that chronic disconnections exists in all three countries, where upper tiers of the state persistently fail to create an enabling environment for lower tier state actors and municipal service delivery machinery. The cause of these disconnections is the persistent colonial impression on the bureaucracy, Neoliberal policies and the appropriation of public resources by organized crime and their backers, urban elites. Non‐state actors have facilitated service delivery to informal settlements, resulting in isolated success and improved levels of human development. However, the case studies demonstrate that the success of non‐state actors is attributed to support from lower tier state actors. A complex political economy of upper and lower tier actors, rooted in unresolved land ownership and elite interests is disabling the capabilities of lower tier state actors to extend services to the urban poor. The study informs our understanding of the role played by technical non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) in facilitating representative community‐based organizations (CBOs) engagement of state service delivery providers. The study illustrates the differential attitudes between upper and lower tier state actors towards informal settlements. The study also separates the ‘development industry’ from grass root representatives of informal settlements. The study also affirms the ability of informal settlements to organize, mobilize and engage municipal service delivery providers. The study emphasizes the need to remove constraints that upper tiers of state and society place on informal settlements in order for equitable development and sustainable levels of service delivery to be realized

show abstract

“…Research has continued to focus on national and provincial policy changes and administrative developments in the wake of electoral patterns and policy activism and has not engaged the relationships of state-non-state providers at the municipal level (Farazmand, 2001;Moran, 2006 2000). Other streams deal mainly with public management and economics (Madhoo, 2007). Some governance studies have examined the preconditions of decentralization (Sellers and Lidstrom, 2008).…”

Section: Developments In Cpa Research and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Service Delivery To Informal Settlements In South Asia's Mega Cities: the Role Of State and Non-State Actors

Shaheen¹

2021

Preprint

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This interdisciplinary research project compares service delivery outcomes to informal settlements in South Asia’s largest urban centres: Dhaka, Karachi and Mumbai. These mega cities have been overwhelmed by increasing demands on limited service delivery capacity as growing clusters of informal settlements, home to significant numbers of informal sector workers, struggle to obtain basic services. In the absence of state supports, some informal settlements engage non‐state actors to obtain services. In order to compare service delivery outcomes through these actors, I used a layered, mixed methods approach guided by an interdisciplinary literature review and policy examination. I drew on semi‐ structured interviews as well as pairs of case studies to measure successful and unsuccessful service delivery outcomes in each of the three mega cities. Key findings are that chronic disconnections exists in all three countries, where upper tiers of the state persistently fail to create an enabling environment for lower tier state actors and municipal service delivery machinery. The cause of these disconnections is the persistent colonial impression on the bureaucracy, Neoliberal policies and the appropriation of public resources by organized crime and their backers, urban elites. Non‐state actors have facilitated service delivery to informal settlements, resulting in isolated success and improved levels of human development. However, the case studies demonstrate that the success of non‐state actors is attributed to support from lower tier state actors. A complex political economy of upper and lower tier actors, rooted in unresolved land ownership and elite interests is disabling the capabilities of lower tier state actors to extend services to the urban poor. The study informs our understanding of the role played by technical non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) in facilitating representative community‐based organizations (CBOs) engagement of state service delivery providers. The study illustrates the differential attitudes between upper and lower tier state actors towards informal settlements. The study also separates the ‘development industry’ from grass root representatives of informal settlements. The study also affirms the ability of informal settlements to organize, mobilize and engage municipal service delivery providers. The study emphasizes the need to remove constraints that upper tiers of state and society place on informal settlements in order for equitable development and sustainable levels of service delivery to be realized

show abstract

International Trends in Water Utility Regimes

Cited by 11 publications

References 49 publications

Measuring the Technical Efficiency of Municipal Water Suppliers: The Role of Environmental Factors

Measuring the Technical Efficiency of Municipal Water Suppliers: The Role of Environmental Factors

Service Delivery To Informal Settlements In South Asia's Mega Cities: the Role Of State and Non-State Actors

Service Delivery To Informal Settlements In South Asia's Mega Cities: the Role Of State and Non-State Actors

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About