Poverty reduction is a primary goal of development policy. In large parts of theWorld people have to live on meagre incomes and have limited access toinfrastructure services, such as mains water, safe sanitation, mains powersupplies, maintained roads and telephones. In response, more and moreinfrastructure provision has been opened up to private investment over the lasttwo decades and regulatory institutions have been introduced to protect thepublic interest in the absence of state ownership. In this paper the role ofinfrastructure regulation in poverty reduction is investigated drawing on thepublished evidence. The conclusion is that the evidence is both patchy andsometimes contradictory. There is mixed knowledge regarding the extent to whichregulators address poverty issues and about the results of regulatory decisions.The paper concludes by proposing a future research agenda aimed at improving ourunderstanding of the ways in which infrastructure regulation impacts on poverty,with the objective of improving actual regulatory policy in developingeconomies.
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