Statistical Analysis : Global Study on the Aggregation of Water Supply and Sanitation Utilities

The Water Global Practice, under the WSS GSG Utility Turnaround thematic area, has implemented the Global Study on WSS Utility Aggregation to provide evidence-based guidance to policy makers and practitioners regarding when, why, and how water and sanitation utilities can work together ("aggregate") to successfully deliver specific policy outcomes, such as better services or lower costs. This work builds on a review of existing literature and an analysis of both qualitative and quantitative evidence, a global data set of international trends and a series of case studies. Additionally, as described in this report, a statistical analysis based on IB-Net data (which cover 1,306 utilities from more than 140 countries) was conducted to better understand the potential gains from aggregation. The objective of the statistical analysis was to empirically assess the performance consequences of aggregations. To this end, the statistical analysis report uses the whole universe of utilities from the IB-Net database to address three core aspects of aggregations. For more information on the global study, refer to the report, Joining Forces for Better Services? When, Why, and How Water and Sanitation Utilities Can Benefit from Working Together. The accompanying toolkit (accessible at www.worldbank.org/water/aggregationtoolkit), offers a broader set of references and resources to inform aggregation processes