Water utility privatization and regulation: lessons from the global experiment

Privatization of the water and wastewater industries is a global experiment that raises a variety of issues, including whether and how economic regulation should be applied to private service providers. Alternate models are emerging both for privatization and regulation. The United States, Great Britain, France, and Argentina provide contrasting approaches. In the course of privatizing state-owned enterprises, nations may need to build their institutional capacity to regulate in order to prevent abuses of monopoly power and further policy goals, including efficiency economic development, environmental protection, and equity goals.