Efficiency and Regulation in the Sanitation Sector in Brazil

Regulation in the sanitation sector in Brazil is facing a great deal of debate regarding the government level in which conceding authority should reside and how private operators can fulfill social objectives. The main objective of this study is to show that these issues are not the crucial barriers to the development of the sector when one looks at the productivity performance of the operators. Therefore, we elaborate a detailed analysis of the productivity performance of the current structure of the sanitation sector in Brazil. In doing so, we are able to analyze how jurisdiction of operators as well as the nature of the management, either private or public, has affected performance of the current operators. Moreover, we investigate how the absence of tariff regulation has dissipated efficiencies and allowed the practice of monopolistic tariffs. O marco regulatorio do setor de saneamento no Brasil ainda enfrenta a controversia sobre em que nivel de governo reside o poder concedente e como o setor privado pode operar no setor sem ferir os seus objetivos sociais. Este estudo visa mostrar como essa controversia mascara questoes mais cruciais associadas ao desempenho produtivo e financeiro do setor. Para tal, estimamos medidas de eficiencia e indicadores financeiros que nos permitem analisar em detalhes como as questoes de jurisdicao e da natureza do capital afetam o desempenho das operadoras de saneamento no pais. Em seguida, investigamos como a ausencia de instrumentos regulatorios para controle tarifario tem permitido a dissipacao da renda mesmo em um ambiente de precos monopolisticos.