Does Private Sector Participation Improve Performance in Electricity and Water Distribution?

This report seeks to answer the question of whether or not private sector participation in energy distribution improves electricity and water distribution. The authors examine the question of private versus public performance in a natural monopoly setting. Using a data set of more than 1,200 utilities in 71 developing and transition economies, this study finds that privately operated utilities outperform state-run utilities in operational performance and labour productivity.