Drawing on cases from electricity distribution and other infrastructure industries, and from experiences spanning Asia, Africa and Latin America, this book examines new business models to bring basic utility services to the four billion people comprising the base of the socio-economic pyramid. Throughout the world, people continue to suffer severe electricity shortages and lack potable water. Contributors to this work, who include academics and practitioners from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, USAID, the AES Corporation and several academic institutions, show that access to utilities is key for achieving economic growth and improving the lives of citizens worldwide. They offer analyses of business models in utilities serving the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) through market mechanisms and showcase innovations in organizational processes and services in order to effectively reach the BOP. The book also discusses the key factors in developing profitable business ventures that can engage the world?s four billion poor. The book is aimed at both academics with an interest in applied research in business and the role of markets in servicing the poor worldwide, practitioners, public sector organizations and NGOs engaged in supplying, financing, and managing microcredit and market initiatives with low-income sectors, and international utility companies and other firms seeking to expand in emerging markets. In addition, the book will be useful as a text in a variety of courses and will give readers a deeper understanding of the potential for business to alleviate poverty, as well as inspire a deeper involvement in social issues as a career alternative or voluntary activity.

Through a variety of analytical lenses - formal modeling, econometrics and case study comparisons - Carlos RufIn fills a gap in the political economy of second-wave, or microeconomic, reforms around the world. More specifically, he does so in the context of the electricity supply industry, where such reforms have been as problematic as they have been widespread. The author shows that ideological considerations and bargaining over the distribution of economic rents accruing from certain institutional arrangements are powerful shapers of institutional change. At the same time, the legacy of the past does not appear to have a clear or systematic effect on the direction of second-wave reforms that seek to transform existing economic institutions. If distributional conflicts can be resolved, these conclusions provide grounds for optimism about the ability to create new institutions even in countries where little favorable precedent exists. Political economy and public policy scholars, specialists on business-government relations and non-market strategy and those interested in Latin America will find this comprehensive book of great interest. Practitioners involved in the design and implementation of second-wave reforms around the world will find this an essential addition to their library.