1、外文翻译 原文 ： Private Provision of Rural Infrastructure Services: Competing for Subsidies By Bjrn Wellenius, Vivien Foster, and Christina Malmberg-Calvo Three billion people live in rural areas worldwide and many lack communication, electricity, water, sanitation, and transportation services that are de
2、emed essential for economic development and directly impact the quality of life. Monopoly provision ,inmost countries by the public sector, often leads to high investment and running costs, weak operation and maintenance ,and limited responsiveness to local needs. Market distortions, government inte
3、rvention, and hidden subsidies fail to promote efficient use of resources to meet social objectives ,effectively target the poor, account for costs and benefits ,or reduce dependence on subsidies. Market-oriented economic reforms have opened the way to more effective solutions for infrastructure ser
4、vices based on private sector provision, cost recovery through tariffs, increasingly competitive markets, and regulation where sufficient competition does not materialize. These reforms aim at accelerating service growth and innovation ,making production more efficient, and increasing responsiveness
5、 to differing user needs and payment capabilities. Gaps typically remain ,however, between what service providers are prepared to do solely on commercial grounds and what governments consider necessary from broader development perspectives. Many rural areas and, to a lesser extent, low-income urban
6、areas, continue to be excluded. Subsidies may be justified to narrow these gaps. Loosely speaking, a subsidy exists when the costs incurred in supplying a service are not fully recovered from the revenues raised by selling this service, the difference being met by other customers in the same or rela
7、ted industries or by governments(Wad dams Price 1 2000).The economic rationale for subsidy is based on the existence of consumption and production externalities, network externalities, and scale economies. Also, access to these services at affordable prices is considered essential to enable the rura
8、l population to participate equitably and effectively in a modern society(Serra 2000). Rural subsidy practices In the context of market-oriented economic policies, subsidies for rural infrastructure services aim at developing sustainable markets for the private provision of these services. Subsidies
9、 are designed to turn socially desirable investments that are not profitable by themselves into commercially viable undertakings. Projects that are not demonstrably good for society at large or are unlikely to ever stand on their own do not justify subsidy support and are seldom undertaken. Good sub
10、sidy practice commits all participants to contribute to financing the provision of services: Service providers invest and risk their own resources to set up the facilities and provide the services during a given time under specified conditions. Government subsidies help service providers meet some i
11、nvestment and start-up costs. Subsidies are designed to reduce access barriers to which low-income groups are especially sensitive, such as initial connection, equipment, or installation charges. Customers pay for the use of services at least as much as is needed to meet operating and maintenance co
12、sts. Where domestic installations are involved, customers are also required to pay part of the investment cost, as a confirmation of economic demand for service and commitment to pay for service use. Consumption is subsidized only exceptionally and limited to small amounts of service regarded as ess
13、ential. The design of subsidies is closely tied to the available service delivery mechanisms. Subsidies are channeled through the service supply chain in ways that aim at being neutral with respect to competition among service providers, service alternatives, and technologies. 2 Water supply Potable
14、 water and, to a lesser extent, sanitation services, are often a priority for rural communities. Willingness to pay for improved services depends on the distance to, and quality of, existing sources of water and sanitation facilities, as well as the consumers perceptions of the health threats of uni
15、mproved services. Solutions to improved water supplies in rural areas are almost always localized, the water supply (be it ground or surface water) and its treatment and distribution being provided in each community as a stand-alone system. Network solutions only make economic sense in areas where w
16、ater sources are scarce or expensive, or where communities are close to one another. For each water technology there are also service level options, which can range from shared facilities (public stand posts or community hand pumps) to house connections (individual hand pump, yard tap, or in-house p
17、lumbing). For sanitation services the choice of technology and service level depends on population size and concentration, water service level and consumption rates, and soil permeability. For most rural areas in developing countries, the appropriate solution will be an on-site sanitation system (la
18、trine or septic tank). Piped sewer and wastewater treatment systems are sometimes installed in larger communities, but costs are high. After years of struggling to achieve sustainable rural water systems scattered in communities across the rural landscape, most countries have now shifted from centra
19、lized supply-driven service provision models to decentralized demand-responsive ones. Rural water systems are often financed and constructed through programs managed by specialized national or regional agencies, and then handed over to be operated and maintained by community-based organizations, suc
20、h as water committees andcooperatives.14 Community-based organizations have done well managing the day-to-day operations of simple water and sanitation systems, although they often operate on very tenuous financial grounds and are unable to accumulate savings or develop the technical capacity to undertake major repairs or system expansions. Countries are now looking for new models of sustainable rural water systems, increasingly turning to the private sector to help run existing services
