Paul Seidenstat


Paul Seidenstat is Associate Professor of Economics at Temple University, Philadelphia, USA. He is a specialist in public finance, public management and water resources. He is a co-author of Reinventing Water and Wastewater Systems: Global Lessons for Improving Management (John Wiley and Sons, 2002), and America’s Water and Wastewater Industries: Competition and Privatization (Public Utilities Reports, Inc., 2000). Dr Seidenstat has also co-edited five other books on the use of economic incentives to improve the provision of public services. He has conducted several research projects for US federal government agencies and served in local government as a finance director and financial advisor.




Papers Published in World Economics:


Global Challenges of Providing Water and Wastewater Services

A key problem of water is the provision of a safe water supply for domestic use. Given the characteristics of water as a commodity, the general misuse of the pricing mechanism, and the economics of developing and operating water and wastewater systems, governments are faced with the challenge of organizing operating systems. The goal is to maximize connections at a reasonable cost and acceptable quality. Developing countries, especially in Asia and Africa, have much work to do to achieve modern water systems. Effective utilization of private water producers may be the most cost-effective approach for many countries.

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