Analysis of the spatial diffusion phenomenon of water privatisation policies Available to Purchase

The type of ownership (public or private) influences the management and planning of water resources with an engineering base in the urban sphere. The objectives, interests, resources and working conditions may be different. Therefore, it is interesting to be aware of the contexts in which a greater probability of water management privatisation exists. Research on urban water services privatisation has generally focused on explanatory variables such as pragmatic, ideological and political issues. This paper introduces the possibility that water privatisation can be influenced by the decisions of the nearby government. The spatial dimension is introduced through variables not normally considered in these types of studies and through the use of a structured additive regression model. The results confirm the existence of a spatio-temporal diffusion effect on the decision to privatise. This study demonstrates that, besides the importance of the temporal dimension, it is also essential to consider spatial factors in order to capture the geographical influence on the dissemination of urban water privatisation policies.