Abstract
Regulatory changes have taken place in the urban water and sewage sector in Israel over the years. In 2001, the Water and Sewage Corporations Law was enacted. The municipal departments that dealt with the water and sewage issues until then were shut down and over the years, 56 water and sewage corporations were established. At the same time, the regulation of the water sector in Israel has also changed and is the responsibility of the State Water and Sewage Authority established in 2007. The Authority coordinates both administrative and regulatory measures, and is in charge of managing, operating, developing, and regulating the activities of all the water corporations that have been established throughout the country. In this article, we examine the structure of regulation, the functions of the regulator, and especially the effect of regulation on the quality of services provided to the consumers of the water and sewage corporations.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
We wish to thank Mifal Hapayis (Israel’s State Lottery) for their support of the research on this topic.
- 2.
The conference participants called for new approaches to the assessment, development, and management of freshwater resources, due to the different conflicting uses and overuses of water. Principle four of the Dublin conference states that “… it is vital to recognize first the basic right of all human beings to have access to clean water and sanitation at an affordable price.”
- 3.
Cross-subsidization is a situation in which profits from one activity are used to pay for another activity that is losing money or making less money.
- 4.
All interviewees were assured of confidentiality so that they could express themselves freely.
References
Aschauer, A. (1989). Is public expenditure productive? Journal of Monetary Economics, 23, 177–200.
Averch, H., & Johnson, L. L. (1962). Behavior of the firm under regulatory constraint. American Economic Review, 52, 1052–1069.
Baldwin, R., Cave, M. E., & Lodge, M. (Eds.). (2012). Understanding regulation: Theory, strategy and practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dublin statement on water and sustainable development. (1992). http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/hwrp/documents/english/icwedece.html. Accessed December 26, 2019.
Goodin, R. E. (1996). Institutions and their design. In Robert Goodin (Ed.), The theory of institutional design (pp. 1–53). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hall, P. A., & Taylor, R. C. R. (1996). Political science and the three new institutionalisms. Political Studies, 44(5), 936–957.
High Court of Justice (Israel). HCJ671/13 – Moshe Mizrahi v. the Water Authority (Hebrew).
Kalter, A. (2013). Global comparison: Approaches to ensuring the right to water in different countries worldwide. Tel Aviv: The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (Hebrew). https://law.acri.org.il//he/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/water-comp-study1213.pdf. Accessed August 22, 2019.
Lavee, D., & Bahar, S. (2017). Examining the economies of scale of water and sewage utilities in the urban sector: The case of Israel. Water Policy, 19(2), 257–270.
Munnell, A. H. (1990). Why has productivity growth declined? Productivity and public investment. New England Economic Review, January/February, 3–22.
Perry, C. J., Rock, M., & Seckler, D. (1997). Water as an economic good: A solution, or a problem? Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Irrigation Management Institute. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/61113/2/REPORT14.pdf. Accessed August 9, 2019.
Pindyck, R., & Rubinfeld, D. (2009). Microeconomics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall (7th ed.).
Prime Minister’s Office. (2015). Governmental guide: The guide to Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) (Hebrew). http://regulation.gov.il/uploads/reports/7/RIAGUIDE_opt.pdf. Accessed August 9, 2019.
Siegel, S. M. (2015). Let there be water. New York: Thomas Dunne Books.
Tevet, E. (2013). Are water corporations a step on the road to privatization? Jerusalem: The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute—The Center for Social Justice and Democracy in Memory of Yaacov Chazan (Hebrew). http://www.vanleer.org.il/sites/files/product-pdf/TAGIDE_MAIM_23-12-2013.pdf. Accessed August 11, 2019.
Tevet, E. (2018). Incorporation and privatization in the infrastructure sector in Israel: Processes and consequences. In A. Paz-Fuchs, R. Mandelkern, & I. Galnoor (Eds.), The privatization of Israel—The withdrawal of state responsibility (pp. 73–97). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Trebing, H. M. (1984). Public utility regulation: A case study in the debate over effectiveness of economic regulation. Journal of Economic Issues, 18(1), 223–250.
Water Law, 1959 (Hebrew).
Water and Sewage Corporations Law, 2001 (Hebrew).
Water Authority website (Hebrew). http://www.water.gov.il/hebrew/Pages/home.aspx. Accessed December 21, 2019.
Wilsey, M. (2017, October 12). Roma Regina Aquarum. Wanted in Rome. https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/roma-regina-aquarum.html. Accessed March 31, 2020.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tevet, E., Talit, G. (2021). Regulation of Water and Sewage Corporations: Impact on Prices and Services. In: Tevet, E., Shiffer, V., Galnoor, I. (eds) Regulation in Israel. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56247-2_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56247-2_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-56246-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-56247-2
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)