This report addresses a pressing issue in Mexico's electricity sector the large and growing subsidies to residential consumers and their regressive incidence across different segments of the population. It responds to requests from the Ministry of Energy to provide a preliminary assessment of...

Bolivia is one of a growing number of developing countries turning to the private sector to improve urban water and sanitation services. The country's first major contract in the sector, a twenty-five-year concession for the neighboring cities of La Paz and El Alto, was implemented in August...

Utility subsidies to consumers of water and electricity services are often justified as a mechanism for making services affordable for the poor. After all, an estimated 1.1 billion people in the developing world lack access to safe water, 2 billion are without electricity, and 2.4 billion...

While consumer utility subsidies are widespread in both the water and electricity sectors, their effectiveness in reaching and distributing resources to the poor is the subject of much debate. This publication brings together empirical evidence on subsidy performance across a wide range of...

Subsidies to residential utility customers are popular among policymakers, utility managers, and utility customers alike, but they are nonetheless the subject of much controversy. Utility subsidies are seen as a way to help make utility service affordable for poor households and as an...