This thesis examines the effects of the privatisation of water supply in developing countries. The first part examines the impact of private water supply by analyzing six examples of privatization in the last two years and by working out the two main effects:
Though, not all consumers are concerned to the same extend by the rising prices and in the whole, the privatisation of water supply can even lead to price cuts.
This thesis considers also the question whether the access to water is a human right or not and ascertains that a potential right on water would have no influence on the organization of privatized water supply.
The next part comprises the development of a model to categorize the different forms of water supply among a model of continuum of goods. Regarding the form of organisation of water supply this categorization leads to the following conclusions:
In most cases however, as shown by the above-mentioned examples, inefficient operation of state-owned companies (public monopoly) is more harmful than private sector activities (natural monopoly).
In conclusion, the thesis states that the privatization of water supply in developing countries should be supported while development aid programmes should focus more on building up public structures and regulatory authorities as well as on capacity building.