Capitalization, regulation and the poor: access to basic services in Bolivia

Gover Barja Daza and Miguel Urquiola

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This paper analyses the privatization of utilities in Bolivia, detailing the particularities of the capitalization mechanism which was used for this purpose. The analysis suggests that capitalization and regulation, and the liberalization of the utilities sector more generally, succeeded in attracting foreign investment, thus fulfilling one of the central goals of the reforms of this sector. Foreign investment made possible the increase in access to basic services in urban areas, although access in rural areas still remains very low. In terms of connection, service expansion in the urban areas did not bypass the poor. On the contrary, in some cases, access improvements appear to have been particularly beneficial to low-income households. Some reform-related price increases did have adverse welfare effects. Nevertheless, the findings in this area are affected by data limitations, and in any case do not seem to outweigh the benefits brought about by greater access.

Keywords: Utility; Privatization; Regulation; Latin America; Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L33 O54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001-04-01, Revised 2001-07
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

Published in Utility privatization and regulation: A fair deal for consumers? Edited by Cecilia Ugaz and Catherine Waddams Price Book.Chapte(2003): pp. 203-233

Downloads: (external link)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/23920/1/MPRA_paper_23920.pdf original version (application/pdf)

Related works:
Chapter: Capitalization, regulation and the poor: access to basic services in Bolivia (2003)
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:pra:mprapa:23920

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany Ludwigstraße 33, D-80539 Munich, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Joachim Winter ().