Water and Sanitation Utilities in the Global South: Re-centering the Debate on “Efficiency”

This paper assesses the ideological arguments that sustain the belief that the private sector is more efficient than the public, which persist despite ambiguous empirical evidence. It argues that the privatization agenda rests on normative assumptions about “economic efficiency” that fail to adequat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Review of radical political economics 2010-06, Vol.42 (2), p.156-174
Main Author: Spronk, Susan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambiguity
Citizenship
Developing countries
Efficiency
LDCs
Private Sector
Privatization
Sanitation
Social Goals
Urban management
Water
Water policy
Water resources
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Summary:This paper assesses the ideological arguments that sustain the belief that the private sector is more efficient than the public, which persist despite ambiguous empirical evidence. It argues that the privatization agenda rests on normative assumptions about “economic efficiency” that fail to adequately address the social goals of water and sanitation provision. The debate on “efficiency” should therefore be re-centered to consider “social efficiency” and the negative effect that privatization has on citizenship rights. JEL codes: A13, N70, Q25
ISSN:0486-6134
1552-8502
DOI:10.1177/0486613410368389