This paper aims to set the stage with an outline of the conceptual, analytical and theoretical aspects of water institutional reforms and a synthesis of the main findings from the reform experiences of six countries: Australia, Chile, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Utilizing the latest developments in the literature on the subject, this paper presents the analytics of unbundling water institutions to show their endogenous and exogenous linkages, the transaction cost approach as a diagnostic framework for understanding the role of factors affecting water institutions, and a stage-based perspective to provide insights into the internal mechanics and dynamics evident in the process of water institutional change. Using this analytical framework and theoretical approach, this paper also identifies a few practically relevant principles for reform design and implementation. Based on a review of country reform experiences, the paper also synthesizes reform theories with actual practices by providing anecdotal evidence for various theoretical postulates and practical reform principles.

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The water sector is undergoing remarkable changes in recent years. While past achievements were associated mainly with investment in new physical structures, recent developments in the water sector is associated to a greater extent with improved management and institutional changes. Although both the nature and direction of these institutional changes vary by country-specific economic, political/cultural, and resource realities, there are clearly identifiable trends and patterns. The 1993 World Bank Water Resources Management Policy calls for a comprehensive water resources framework that recognizes appropriate management of water resources, that rely also on sound institutions. World Bank portfolio includes now water projects with massive components of institutional reforms, at all water sub-sectors and management levels. As such, World Bank's projects are part of the trend of change identified at international level. Evaluation of the institutional changes that occur and the consequential performance of the water sector are not straightforward. While country-specific studies describing institutional changes in the water sector are common, comparative studies evaluating the institutional underpinnings of water sector performance with a crosscountry perspective are rather rare. Crosscountry studies can help not only in understanding the major water sector challenges but also in delineating the contour of ongoing institutional responses, under various country-specific conditions. This report suggests a new methodology to shed light on the process of institutionperformance interaction. The report demonstrates the use of the methodology by applying it to an extensive crosscountry data set, and by deriving policy guidance based on the results. We hope that this report will stimulate thought and debate about methodologies and strategies to be used in order to evaluate institutional change and institution-performance interactions in the water sector.

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This paper presents an overview of the theoretical, methodological and policy issues that are evident both in the extant literature on the subject as well as in the set of papers that are included in this special issue. In providing such an overview, this paper also develops an analytical framework using a schematic representation of some of the most important layers and pathways that underlie the water-poverty-gender nexus. Based on the overview and discussion, this paper attempts: (a) to indicate approaches and strategies for using water as a key instrument to address poverty and gender concerns and (b) to identify the research gaps in order to set the direction for ongoing and future research at the water-poverty-gender interface.