Using data from 270 water and sanitation providers, this Note investigates the relationship between a utility's size and its operating costs. The current trend toward transferring responsibility for providing services to the municipal level is driven in part by the assumption that this will make...

This note highlights the wide variation in performance on key indicators: unaccounted-for water, labor costs, the working ratio, service coverage, water prices and connection costs, and continuity of service. As governments struggle with rising health care costs, public-private partnerships in...

In some countries regulators routinely publish indicators of utility service performance through the local media. Exposing the "worst in class" has proven to be a powerful way of pressuring utilities to provide better services to consumers. This Note reviews the requirements for effective...