Complicating neoliberalization and decentralization: the non-linear experience of Colombian water supply, 1909--2012

Tatiana Acevedo Guerrero, Kathryn Furlong and Jeimy Arias

International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2016, vol. 32, issue 2, 172-188

Abstract: This article presents key elements in the evolution of water supply regulation in Colombia over the twentieth century. This is novel in that it contradicts widely accepted and seemingly universal trends in water supply development. By putting apparently recent phenomena into a longer historical trajectory, we are able to nuance the idea of a unidirectional transition from centralized to decentralized governance, as well as the evolution of policies associated with neoliberalization. We find that regulatory development began at the municipal scale in the 1920s, only to be centralized mid-century. By the same token, policies typically associated with neoliberalization -- such as corporatization, full cost recovery, and volumetric metering -- began in the 1910s and 1920s and not under neoliberalism in the 1980s. The work is based on a database compiled by the authors. The database comprises municipal, departmental and state regulatory interventions from 1909 to 2012.

Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/07900627.2015.1026434 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:cijwxx:v:32:y:2016:i:2:p:172-188

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/cijw20

DOI: 10.1080/07900627.2015.1026434

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Water Resources Development is currently edited by Cecilia Tortajada

More articles in International Journal of Water Resources Development from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().