Core References

• Regulating Quality Note no. 221 in Public Policy for the Private Sector. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group, October 2000. Baker, Bill and Sophie Trémolet

  Explains that quality is often a matter of consumer choice. Furthermore, offering different levels of quality in such instances is equivalent to changing the economic value of the service, so the regulator should expect a different willingness to pay from each customer or group of customers. Explains that if a private provider wants to serve the poor and remain profitable, it must diversify its pricing or supply arrangements, or both. Also, while data on poor consumers is scant, studies suggest that they are willing to pay a higher percentage of their income for infrastructure services than the rich—a measure of their desire for service.

• Utility Regulation: Regulating Quality Standards to Improve Access for the Poor Utility Reform Note no. 219 in Public Policy for the Private Sector. Washington, D.C.: World Group, October 2000. Baker, Bill and Sophie Trémolet

  Explains why quality standards, as part of privatization efforts, are generally set high for utility providers in developing countries and that these higher standards often result in higher costs for services, thus reducing access of low-income households to those services. An example of a government’s agreement with alternative providers was an experiment in Buenos Aires in Barrio San Jorge. Residents paid a higher fee for water from the piped network or a lower fee for water drawn from groundwater sources that was too salty for drinking but was acceptable for other purposes.

• Access by the Poor in Latin America’s Utility Reform Subsidies and Service Obligations Discussion Paper No. 2001/75, World Institute for Development Economics Research, United Nations University, Helsinki, September 2001. Chisari, Omar O., Antonio Estache, and Catherine Waddams Price

  Discusses access and affordability for the poor. Cheaper technologies and various financing/lending schemes can lower costs for serving the poor, which increases access and affordability. Examines Latin American experiences.

Sectoral References

ELECTRICITY

• Regulation by Contract: A New Way to Privatize Electricity Distribution? Energy and Mining Sector Board Discussion Paper Series Paper no. 7, March 2003. Bakovic, T., B. Tenenbaum, and R. Woolf

  Says quality-of-service standards need not be uniform across all customer categories or geographic areas. Instead, standards should be based on customers’ preferences and their willingness to pay for the costs of providing the specified level of quality.

TRANSPORTATION

• Cities on the Move: A World Bank Urban Transport Strategy Review China Financial and Economic Publishing House, Beijing, China, 2002. World Bank

  Connects the urban and transport strategies with a focus on poverty. Concentrates on the problems of the very poor, not only in relation to income, but also in terms of the broader dimensions of social exclusion. Offers a better common understanding of urban transportation problems in developing and transitional economies and to identify an urban transport strategy framework for national and city governments.

• Sustainable Transport: Priorities for Policy Reform World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1996. World Bank

  Describes how strategies and programs in the transport sector can be designed to make more efficient use of public resources, facilitate trade and other economic activity, foster competitive markets, and better serve users' needs--in particular, expanding poor people's access to services and opportunities.

Key Words

Social policy, Distributional justice, Universal service, Subsidies, Cross-subsidy, Poor, Information disclosure, Monitoring, Sanctions