摘要：This book is concerned with the relationship between public and private sector participants in the provision of water supply and sanitation (WSS) in developing countries. It reports on a study funded by a number of European agencies, and consists of an initial review of relevant principles, four country case studies and some concluding comments. The focus is on .the potential for market failure related to social and environmental concerns., rather than the .potential for increased e.ciency versus the potential for anti-competitive monopolistic behaviour.. Profound familiarity with the WSS problems of developing countries is not necessary to accept the appropriateness of such a focus. That being said, the conventional economist could be frustrated by the lack of attention to mainstream pricing and price regulation problems. However, such neglect is warranted by the magnitude of the social and environmental problems associated with WSS in developing countries, particularly the former class of problems.
