This paper examines key aspects of the policies promoting the expansion of private
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research carried out on the impact of these policies in nine countries of Africa,
Europe, and Latin America. The article argues that the main claims put forward to
justify these policies, that private sector participation provides the financial
resources needed to improve the situation in developing countries and that these
policies contribute to reduce social inequality in these countries, are not
supported by the empirical evidence. The findings suggest that the international
community cannot rely on private sector participation for achieving the development
goals for water and sanitation, particularly in the poorer countries. The paper
concludes that there is a need to learn from the past, when developed countries
managed to achieve the universalization of essential services thanks to the
convergence of a wide range of social and political forces, including free-market
liberals, who accepted that essential services cannot be organized purely on market
principles. It suggests that achieving similar success in LDCs will also require the
amalgamation of a similarly broad and universalistic ensemble of social forces.
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