Thirsty Colonias: Rate Regulation and the Provision of Water Service
研究了法律未强制普遍服务时，贫困社区被排除在供水网络之外的原因，发现旨在让水价可负担的费率监管反而减少了贫困地区的服务覆盖。
<i>Where the law does not mandate universal service, poor communities frequently are omitted from drinking water supply networks. A c-cording to conventional wisdom, lack of service is due primarily to the high cost of extending service to the poor, their low ability to pay, and their weak political influence. Through an empirical analysis of poor communities in Texas, this study assesses these and other economic and institutional determinants of drinking water service acquisition. The analysis reveals that rate regulation, intended to make water service affordable to all households, is also responsible, and may actually reduce service coverage among the poor.</i>