Public Provision for Urban Water: Getting Prices and Governance Right
Public Provision for Urban Water: Getting Prices and Governance Right
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城市供水的公共供给：正确定价和治理
DOI：
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发表时间：
2008
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Jr Eduardo Araral
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Jr Eduardo Araral
公共部门的垄断往往与效率低下和无法满足不断增长的需求联系在一起。学者们将此归因于与公共供给相关的基本问题：(1)民粹主义压力导致的低于成本定价的传统；(2)所有者与监管者的利益冲突；(3)不可信的破产威胁、弱竞争、僵化以及代理和绩效衡量问题引发的不正当组织激励。世界上许多国家的政府已转向私人提供供水，但发展中国家最近在城市供水方面的经验显示出其局限性，因为监管制度薄弱，加之信息、激励和承诺方面的固有问题。本文考察了柬埔寨金边供水的矛盾案例，以说明如何通过合理定价和治理来大幅改善城市供水的公共供应。研究结果对寻找解决办法为全世界10亿人提供更好的饮用水具有重要意义。
Public sector monopolies are often associated with inefficiencies and inability to meet rising demand. Scholars attribute this to fundamental problems associated with public provision: (1) a tradition of below-cost pricing due to populist pressures, (2) owner–regulator conflicts of interest, and (3) perverse organizational incentives arising from non-credible threat of bankruptcy, weak competition, rigidities, and agency and performance measurement problems. Many governments worldwide have shifted to private provision, but recent experience in urban water utilities in developing countries has shown their limitations because of weak regulatory regimes compounded by inherent problems of information, incentives, and commitment. This article examines the paradoxical case of the Phnom Penh Water Supply in Cambodia to illustrate how public provision of urban water can be substantially improved by getting prices and governance right. Findings have implications for the search for solutions to provide one billion people worldwide with better access to potable water.