Books papers etc.
Updated - Monday 27 February 2006
Komives, Kristin and Linda Stalker Prokopy. October 2000. Cost Recovery and Partnership: Results, Attitudes, Lessons & Strategies. BPD Water and Sanitation Cluster, London.
http://www.bpd-waterandsanitation.org/english/docs/costrec.pdf
The Business Partners for Development (BPD) Water and Sanitation Cluster works to develop partnerships between the public, private, and civil society sectors to improve water and sanitation services. Using the experiences gained from the BPD's eight focus projects in countries including Haiti, Indonesia, Bolivia, and South Africa, lessons on cost recovery for the water supply sector are established, drawing from surveys and interviews of community groups and project partners. This study adds insight to the body of literature on cost recovery, as it views the subject through the lens of tri-sectoral partnerships, which provides insight to the biases (positive and negative) that can affect a project's (or sector's) ability to achieve full cost recovery.
Brikke, Francois and Johnny Rojas. 2001. Key Factors for Sustainable Cost Recovery in the Context of Community Managed Water Supply. Occasional Paper Series No. 32. IRC, The Netherlands.
This paper walks the reader through all the different steps to approach cost recovery, providing ample check lists, strategy ideas, and possible advantages and disadvantages related to management type. Based on an extensive literature review, the study maps the key issues facing community systems, but also provides practical tools for communities to use. Options for accounting systems and other things to consider when accounting for costs in the water sector are provided, along with annexes with examples of tariff calculations, sample water bills, formats for budgeting, bookkeeping, and so forth.
Waughray, Dominic and Dominic Moran. March 2002. "Cost Recovery in Water and Sanitation Projects." DFID Knowledge and Research Project, London.
This paper investigates cost recovery in rural and peri-urban schemes through an exhaustive literature review, a survey on cost recovery, a meta-analysis on willingness to pay literature, and case studies based on field work in India and South Africa. Findings are presented as strategic recommendations for practitioners looking to incorporate cost recovery themes and strategies into the water sector and water projects while retaining a pro-poor and sustainable livelihoods focus.
Whittington, Dale and John Boland. December 2002. "Water Tariffs and Subsidies in South Asia Paper 1". WSP, USA
http://www.wsp.org/publications/Water%20Tariff%201_press_27th%20Feb.pdf
This paper, from a series funded by PPIAF, World Bank, World Bank Institute and WSP, on tariff and subsidy issues in South Asia, discusses the objectives of water tariffs, describes the pros and cons of the main types of tariff structures in use around the world, and examines the use of pricing structures to deliver subsidies. The paper concludes that it is difficult and challenging to design tariff structures which are consistent with the many conflicting objectives of the water sector (such as economic sustainability, efficiency, equity and affordability), and that in many cases existing practices introduce distortions and undesirable effects, particularly for poor users.
Terry, Geraldine and Belinda Calaguas. 2003. "Financing the Millennium Development Goals for domestic water supply and sanitation". WaterAid. London.
This publication addresses the major issues relating to financing for the water sector, including the implications of the MDGs and the financing gap. It also proposes strategies for how ODA and other forms of finance could be improved, drawing on examples from a variety of developing countries.
Moriarty, P.B., G. Patricot, T. Bastemeijer, J. Smet, and C. van der Voorden. January 2002. "Between Rural and Urban: Towards sustainable management of water supply systems in small towns in Africa." IRC, The Netherlands.
Small towns pose unique challenges to the water services sector - challenges that are neither urban nor rural. These include differences in the scale of systems, institutional capabilities, financial constraints, and the variety of management models that are used. Further, small towns in Africa have been growing, which poses planning issues, especially with regards to expanding capacity. The paper concludes that the impacts of decentralization and increased use of private sector participation will be beneficial to alleviate the constraints on water services. However, these need to be matched with effective management of resources and capacity building at the municipal level.
Johnson, Eric. 2001. "Long Road to Cost Recovery in Rural Water Supply: Intermediate Steps with a Photovoltaic Installation." Sustainable Development International, Edition 4, page 65. Internet:
http://www.enersol.org/documents/costrecovery.pdf
This paper provides a quick study of the major issues in achieving cost recovery in rural areas. The author starts with the pitfalls of subsidization and overcoming the notion that water is free, and then begins a discussion of the many small steps required in the institutionally complex rural arena to achieve full cost recovery. In isolated areas, solar-powered community water delivery may be the best option. Looking at El Fortin, Honduras, the community installed both technological and social controls to improve cost recovery while providing basic access for the very poor. While the article focuses on cost recovery from an engineer's perspective, issues of capacity, institutional mechanisms, and incentive structures are also addressed.
Boland, John and Dale Whittington. 2000. "The Political Economy of Water Tariff Design in Developing Countries." In The Political Economy of Water Pricing Reforms. OxfordUniversity Press, New York.
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDS_IBank_Servlet?pcont=details&eid=000094946_00072705342983
This paper, which is part of an excellent larger book on pricing reform and tariff structure, provides a critical assessment of the increasing block tariffs (IBTs, and in this TOP, simply block tariffs) used in developing countries, and provides an alternative pricing strategy of uniform volumetric pricing with lump sum rebates for the poor. The paper looks at the economics and political background of IBT, provides case studies of cities using IBTs, along with the objectives of water tariff design.
United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS). 1993. "The Maintenance of Infrastructure and its Financing and Cost Recovery." UNCHS (now Habitat), Nairobi.
http://www.unchs.org/unchs/english/mainten/contents.htm
This publication focuses on the financing and cost recovery of operation and maintenance costs for infrastructure in developing countries. On cost recovery, the paper emphasizes the importance of maintenance costs for sustaining a project, and the general lack of attention paid to these costs during project planning, and considers the key issues related to recovering and financing maintenance costs.
