Comparative water law, policies, and administration in Asia: Evidence from 17 countries

Abstract

[1] Conventional wisdom suggests that improving water governance is the key to solving water insecurity in developing countries but there are also many disagreements on operational and methodological issues. In this paper, we build on the work of Saleth and Dinar and surveyed 100 water experts from 17 countries in Asia to compare 19 indicators of water laws, policies, and administration among and within countries from 2001 to 2010. We present the results of our study in a comparative dashboard and report how water governance indicators vary with a country's level of economic development, which ones do not and how and why some indicators change overtime in some countries. We have two main results. First, our initial findings suggest the possibility of water Kuznet's curve, i.e., certain water governance indicators vary with a country's level of economic development. However, more studies are needed given the caveats and limitations of our study. Second, the results have practical value for policy makers and researchers for benchmarking with other countries and tracking changes within their countries overtime. We conclude with implications for a second-generation research agenda on water governance.

Does water governance matter to water sector performance? Evidence from ten provinces in China

“…Despite this consensus, there remain considerable debates in the literature (for a summary, see Araral & Wang (2013) and Araral & Yu (2013)). First, there is little consensus on the scope and definition of water governance.…”

“…In this paper, we focus on a non-conventional solution: improving water governance. Most scholars assert that improving water governance holds the key to improving water security in developing countries; see Araral & Yu (2013) and Araral & Wang (2013) for a comprehensive review of this literature.…”

“…To answer these two questions, we surveyed 89 water experts from 10 Chinese provinces. We tested several propositions on water law, policies and administration following the previous studies of Araral & Yu (2013) and building on the framework of .…”

Understanding Subjectivities in the Regulation of Local Water Services: A Q-Methodology Study of Elected Public Officers in Italy

“…Works done by Araral [16], and Araral and Yu [60], for example, argue that the design of appropriate governance systems for water service provision is important for improving service quality and that the quality of water governance seems related to the level of economic development. The present study suggests that paying attention to individual subjectivities may be relevant to account for similarities and differences of water governance systems across countries.…”

Increasing access to water services: a cost-recoverable pricing model

“…However, these tariffs often result in poor households paying a similar or higher average price per unit of water compared to wealthier households, decreasing the efficacy of these tariffs in achieving more socially optimal outcomes (Whittington, 1992). Implementing tariff reforms, however, is often difficult in practice due to political factors and the absence of governance structures that can result in quality service provision (Araral, 2008;Araral & Wang, 2013;Araral & Yu, 2013). Equally problematic may be the absence of adequate data and formal models that provide systematic evidence on the impacts that changing connection charges and tariffs can have on coverage rates (United Nations, 2007).…”