A Tale Of Two Concessionaires

In February 1997 Maynilad Water Services, Inc. and Manila Water Company, Inc. were awarded concession contracts from Manila's Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and split between them the service areas in Metro Manila. In the years thereafter, the paths taken by the two concessionaires diverged dramatically: Maynilad became bankrupt and was turned over to MWSS, whereas Manila Water has prospered and is now a listed company in the Philippine Stock Exchange. The coexistence of two concessionaires in the same city offers a rare opportunity as a natural experiment to study the role of internal factors in privatization of urban water systems because the effects of many important external factors, such as political support, regulatory structure, and unforeseen events, are effectively controlled. Our findings suggest that corporate governance, financial management, and operations management of privatized water utilities are among the most important internal factors that determine success of water privatization in developing countries.