Maintaining Utility Services for the Poor

Maintaining Utility Services for the Poor PDF Author:
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780821348048
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
Prior to the dissolution of the communist state, utility prices were driven by political priorities in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Utility prices were kept artificially low until the early 1990s. When the cost of these across-the-board price subsidies became unaffordable, one government after another decided to bring residential tariffs closer to supply costs. The resulting price adjustment process, however, turned out to be more painful than originally expected. Required large increase in the prices of utility services coincided with a decrease in household income. The household income decline paralleled increasing income polarization. As a result of these two trends, the percentage of the poor within the overall population reached alarming proportions in many countries. Paying utility bills became a major challenge for the rapidly growing army of poor households. Some governments simply pressured utility managers to be lenient with households who did not pay their utility bills. By the middle of the 1990s, most governments recognized that they could not afford leniency. They started to experiment with various subsidy schemes aimed at low income households. To help decision makers choose the best mechanism that suits their specific needs and priorities, 'Maintaining Utility Services for the Poor' provides a conceptual framework and methodology for the evaluation of utility subsidy mechanisms. It also presents the results of applying this methodology in Poland and Russia.

Maintaining Utility Services for the Poor

Maintaining Utility Services for the Poor PDF Author:
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780821348048
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 68

Get Book Here

Book Description
Prior to the dissolution of the communist state, utility prices were driven by political priorities in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Utility prices were kept artificially low until the early 1990s. When the cost of these across-the-board price subsidies became unaffordable, one government after another decided to bring residential tariffs closer to supply costs. The resulting price adjustment process, however, turned out to be more painful than originally expected. Required large increase in the prices of utility services coincided with a decrease in household income. The household income decline paralleled increasing income polarization. As a result of these two trends, the percentage of the poor within the overall population reached alarming proportions in many countries. Paying utility bills became a major challenge for the rapidly growing army of poor households. Some governments simply pressured utility managers to be lenient with households who did not pay their utility bills. By the middle of the 1990s, most governments recognized that they could not afford leniency. They started to experiment with various subsidy schemes aimed at low income households. To help decision makers choose the best mechanism that suits their specific needs and priorities, 'Maintaining Utility Services for the Poor' provides a conceptual framework and methodology for the evaluation of utility subsidy mechanisms. It also presents the results of applying this methodology in Poland and Russia.

Water, Electricity, and the Poor

Water, Electricity, and the Poor PDF Author: Kristin Komives
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780821363423
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
This book reviews the prevalence and variants of consumer subsidies found in the developing world and the effectiveness of these subsidies for the poor. It places consumer subsidies in a broader social protection framework and compares them with poverty-focused programmes in other sectors using a common metric. It concludes that the most common subsidy instruments perform poorly in comparison with most other transfer mechanisms. Alternative consumption and connection subsidy mechanisms show more promise, especially when combined with complementary non-price approaches to making utility services accessible and affordable to poor households. The many factors contributing to those outcomes are dissected, identifying those that can be controlled and used to improve performance.

Public Utilities and the Poor

Public Utilities and the Poor PDF Author: David C. Sweet
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Public Utilities and The Poor examines an often-neglected aspect of utility policy: the development of new policy directions for utility assistance to the low-income and the elderly. It focuses on the shift in utility assistance policy-making from the federal to the state, local, and neighborhood levels and on the resulting opportunity among private utilities for leadership in developing local programs. In addition, the authors propose that steps be taken to open up the policy-making process to make sure that all groups with a stake in the outcome are included.

Attacking Poverty

Attacking Poverty PDF Author:
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780195211290
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
At the start of each decade the World Development Report focuses on poverty reduction. The World Development Report, now in its twenty-third edition, proposes an empowerment-security-opportunity framework of action to reduce poverty in the first decades of the twenty-first century. It views poverty as a multidimensional phenonmenon arising out of complex interactions between assets, markets, and institutions. This Report shows how the experience of poverty reduction in the last fifteen years has been remarkably diverse and how this experience has provided useful lessons as well as warnings against simplistic universal policies and interventions. It shows how current global trends present extraordinary opportunities for poverty reduction but also cause extraordinary risks, including growing inequality, marginalization, and social explosions. The World Development Report 2000/2001 explores the challenge of managing these risks in order to make the most of the opportunities for poverty reduction.

Making Transition Work for Everyone

Making Transition Work for Everyone PDF Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780821347201
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 540

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Book Description
Annotation This book brings together the latest findings on the nature and evolution of poverty and inequality in the region.

Coping With the Cold

Coping With the Cold PDF Author: Julian A. Lampietti
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780821353288
Category : Energy policy
Languages : en
Pages : 72

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Book Description


Poor's

Poor's PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Public utilities
Languages : en
Pages : 2534

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Book Description


Deregulation and Its Discontents

Deregulation and Its Discontents PDF Author: M. Ramesh
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1847201806
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
. . . an extremely interesting collection, full of insights and institutional detail. . . The book definitely deserves the attention of those interested in one of the most debated issues of the last 20 years in economics and political science. Herb Thompson, Journal of Contemporary Asia Deregulation and its Discontents examines the different ways in which the issues related to deregulation and reregulation have been addressed in Asia. The role of government in business has gone through distinct, if overlapping, cycles: regulation, deregulation and reregulation. However, little is known about deregulation and even less about reregulation, particularly in relation to Asia. The contributors to this book examine the links between the cycles through detvailed analyses of the electricity market, pensions and stock markets in the Asia Pacific. They also offer an explanation of regulatory cycles. This unique and inter-disciplinary book is thoroughly accessible and will be suitable for specialist as well as non-specialist readers. It will appeal to academics and researchers of public sector economics, Asian studies and the political economy of Asia in particular as well as public officials dealing with regulatory issues.

Energy Services for the World's Poor

Energy Services for the World's Poor PDF Author: Penelope J. Brook
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780821347058
Category : Energy industries
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description


People and Power

People and Power PDF Author: Julian A. Lampietti
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821366343
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Empirical insights on household behavior and electricity consumption patterns in this book reveal that, in Europe and Central Asia, the erosion of tariff based subsidies has disproportionately affected the poor, while direct transfers through social benefit systems have often been inadequately targeted. The book suggests alternative strategies for achieving cost-recovery in the electricity sector in a socially and politically acceptable manner, providing lessons that are equally relevant for other utilities and regions.