The southern Mediterranean region faces one of the most important water crises in the world. The combination of aridity, foreign dependency, climate change, misallocation of the resources and escalating human demand make water supply a primary issue for health, economy and poverty reduction. In...

Recent history shows that the scope of government varies substantially across countries and through time. Privatization phases alternate with nationalization episodes. The post WWII nationalization policies in Europe gave way to a privatization wave in the 1980s and are now followed by a return...

Most theories on private sector participation in water infrastructure are based on the sole supposed difference of efficiency between the public and the private sector. The review of 22 empirical tests and 51 case studies shows that private sector participation per se in water supply does not...

We model the fluctuating allocation of property rights in firms between private investors and the state, as the outcome of a competitive bidding for ownership in which the private investors value shareholders wealth, and the government values political support and survival, obtained through the...

The southern Mediterranean region faces one of the most important water crises in the world. The combination of aridity, foreign dependency, climate change, misallocation of the resources and escalating human demand make water supply a primary issue for health, economy and poverty reduction. In...

Theories of privatization or nationalization typically compare the economic or political efficiency of private and state ownership, either in general, or for a list of specific goods and services. They aim at defining, once and for all, what an optimal allocation of ownership should be, i.e. the...

There is an increasing concern in the development community about the increase in the ‘feminisation of bad jobs’ of many developing countries. Indeed, recent analysis shows a growing proportion of women are in jobs with poor working conditions and low pay. But what is driving this...