To privatize or not to privatize? A longitudinal analysis of the Brazilian water supply services

ABSTRACT

Privatization is often mentioned as a potential solution to water supply problems. However, few studies have addressed the real impacts of privatization, particularly in Brazil. The objective of this study was to compare the performance of public and private water supply services in Brazil between 2003 and 2013. The methodology was based on the analysis of the indicators of the Brazilian National Information System on Sanitation, through factor analyses and nonparametric tests. The study also conducted linear regression models, without success. The visual analysis of the boxplots suggested significant differences in the overall performance of public and private groups in specific years. This situation was confirmed in nonparametric tests. However, privatized services had the best performance since the beginning of the analysis period, a fact that corroborates the argument that privatization tends to occur in municipalities with more favorable water supply services. Future studies are, finally, suggested.

Keywords:
water supply services; privatization; National Environmental Sanitation Information System; indicators; Brazil