[NOTE: Readers should cross-reference this section with Section A and with Chapter V Section C.]

Core References

• Regulation of the Quality of Infrastructure Services in Developing Countries in Infrastructure for Poor People: Public Policy for Private Provision, Penelope J. Brooke and Timothy C. Irwin, eds., Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 2003, pp. 233-275. Baker, Bill and Sophie Trémolet

  Describes how regulation of service quality can sometimes preclude operators from using low-cost technologies that could make service affordable for the poor. Examines how to use differentiated quality and alternate suppliers for the poor.

• Impact of Market Structure on Service Options for the Poor in Infrastructure for Poor People: Public Policy for Private Provision, Penelope J. Brooke and Timothy C. Irwin, eds., Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 2003, pp. 179-208. Ehrhardt, David

  Describes how mechanisms to ensure competitive markets improve service provision for the poor.

• Accounting for Poverty in Infrastructure Reform: Learning from Latin America’s Experience Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 2002. Estache, Antonio, Vivien Foster, and Quentin Wodon

  Examines strategies for serving the poor. Explains macroeconomic and microeconomic linkages between infrastructure reform and the poor and discusses setting priorities. Describes reforms’ impacts on access and affordability for the poor. Describes approaches for improving access for the poor, including operator obligations, connection targets, low-cost technologies, subsidies and cross-subsidies, and open entry. Also describes approaches for improving affordability, including lifeline subsidies, means-tested subsidies, vouchers, balancing connection and usage charges, billing options, and prepaid service.

• Water, Electricity, and the Poor : Who Benefits from Utility Subsidies? Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 2005. Komives, Kristin, Vivien Foster, Jonathan Halpren, and Quentin Wodon

  Reviews how effective utility subsidies are in reaching the poor. Shows that while subsidies are widespread, their effectiveness in reaching and distributing resources to the poor is questionable.

• Scorecard for Subsidies: How Utility Subsidies Perform in Transition Economies Note no. 218 in Public Policy for the Private Sector. Washington, D.C., October 2000. Lovei, Laszlo, Eugene Gurenko, Michael Haney, Philip O’Keefe, and Maria Shkaratan

  Describes criteria for evaluating various subsidy schemes, including how well the poor are reached, the share of the subsidy that goes to the poor, the predictability of the benefit for the poor, the extent and significance of unintended side effects, and administrative cost and difficulty. States that the main types of utility subsidies in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are analyzed using a scoring system developed by the authors. Instructions on how to apply the scoring system are provided.

• Liberalization and Universal Access to Basic Services Telecommunications, Water and Sanitation, Financial Services, and Electricity Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 2007. OECD and The World Bank

  Provides a cross sectoral analysis of how infrastructure reforms affect universal access. Finds that efficiency improvements also improve access. Competition is more important than privatization in improving efficiency. Direct command mechanisms, such as direct financing and rollout requirements, and price controls provide poor results.

Sectoral References

ELECTRICITY AND GAS

• Auctioning Subsidies for Rural Electrification in Chile. Note no. 214 in Public Policy for the Private Sector. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group, 2000. Jadresic, Alejandro

  Explains that in Chile, the central government allocates funds to regional governments on the basis of need and their past performance in meeting needs, while regional governments in turn allocate funds in a form of a one-time direct subsidy to private companies to help cover investment costs. Describes the allocation of these funds.

• Does Reform of Energy Sector Networks Improve Access for the Poor? Note no. 209 in Public Policy for the Private Sector. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group, 1997, May 2000. Powell, S., and M. Starks

  States that the fundamental cost characteristics of grid provision do not favor the provision of access to rural and poor populations, so grid-based electricity provision will not revolutionize access by the poor, but reductions in the fixed costs of transmission and distribution equipment, and innovations to reduce the costs of supplying remote areas, improve the prospects that grids will be extended to rural areas. However, the fixed costs of transmission and distribution equipment have not fallen enough to make it profitable to extend the grid to some rural populations. Concludes that extensions of the grid to these people must be subsidized.

• Better energy services, better energy sectors—and links with the poor in Energy Services for the World’s Poor, Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 2000, pp. 26-32. Price, Catherine Waddams

  Examines direct and indirect effects of energy reforms on the poor. Considers effects of prices, quality improvements, access improvement, and environmental policies.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

• Universal Access: How Mobile can bring Communications to All London, U.K.: GSM Association, 2006. GSM Association

  Examines mobile development around the world. Concludes that governments should rely on market forces as the primary means to extend access and connections, that subsidies should play only a last resort role, and that universal access policies should be transparent and reviewed regularly.

• ICT Regulation Toolkit Washington, D.C.: infoDev and the International Telecommunications Union, 2007, Module 4.

  Describes universal service and access mechanisms.

• New Models for Universal Access to Telecommunications Services in Latin America Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group, 2007. Stern, Peter A, and David N. Townsend

  Assesses universal access experiences in Latin America. Finds that telecoms has a significant economic impact, privatization and liberalization make significant improvements in sector performance, universal access programs and funds for community access to phones are quite successful, and subsidies for telecenters give mixed results. Makes policy recommendations.

• Extending Telecommunications beyond the Market Note no. 206 in Public Policy for the Private Sector. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group, March 2000, pp. 1-12. Wellenius, Björn

  Explains that universal service support programs mainly seek to extend service to uneconomic areas and customers. Cost-effective measures to achieve widespread access focus on removing obstacles that prevent the market from working well, offering alternatives to standard service, and using market mechanisms to allocate responsibility for extending service beyond the market and to quantify and allocate any necessary funding.

TRANSPORTATION

• Scoping Study – Urban Mobility in Three Cities: Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, and Nairobi Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Program Working Paper, number 70, World Bank, Washington, D.C., 2002. World Bank

  Reports the results of a study of urban mobility in three Sub-Saharan African cities - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Nairobi, Kenya; and, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. A major impediment is poor institutional structures and, consequently, a lack of leadership. Concludes that the only way to derive significant improvements in the performance of the urban transport sector, is to reorganize the way in which urban transport is planned, and developed.

• Urban Bus Toolkit: Tools and Options for Reforming Urban Bus Systems Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility, World Bank. CPCS Transcom

  Offers practical advice to enact fundamental system reforms.

WATER

• Taking Account of the Poor in Water Sector Regulation World Bank: Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Board Working Note, Paper No. 11, August 2006. World Bank

  Provides practical guidance on how regulatory frameworks can be designed and implemented in a way that is more conducive to expanding access and improving service to poor customers.

• Designing Direct Subsidies for the Poor – A Water and Sanitation Case Study Note no. 211 in Public Policy for the Private Sector. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group, June 2000. Vivien Foster, Andres Gómez-Lobo, and Jonathan Halpern

  Explains that subsidies directed at public water companies have often benefited the middle class rather than the poor. States that the main advantages of direct subsidies to customers are that they are transparent and explicit, and minimize distortions in the behavior of water utilities ant their customers. The main drawbacks are higher administrative costs and the difficulty of designing suitable eligibility criteria.

• Expanding Water and Sanitation Services to Low-Income Households Note no. 178 in Public Policy for the Private Sector. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group, 1998. Komives, Kristin, and Penelope J. Brook Cowen

  Describes concession in La Paz and El Alto. Bidders identified the number of water connections they would make in exchange for a pre-specified tariff. Several service quality attributes were specified in the contract regarding water quality, continuity of service, water pressure and flow, and customer service. The contract also mandated that all new water and sewer connections must be in-house connections.

• The Design of Manila Concessions and Implications for the Poor Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 2002. Rosenthal, Shane

  Examines the experience of Metro Manila's water and sanitation network. Concludes that the poor can benefit if the concessionaire has flexibility and alternative providers are allowed to serve markets where they have an advantage in doing so.

• New Designs for Water and Sanitation Transactions Making Private Sector Participation Work for the Poor Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, undated. World Bank

  Considers policies that affect the poor, including tariff reform, governance, sector regulation, legal frameworks, competition, and private sector participation.

Key Words

Costs, Social policy, Distributional justice, Subsidies, Universal service, Contracting out, Franchising