Análisis de las economías de escala y alcance en los servicios de acueducto y alcantarillado en Colombia

One of the main characteristics of water and sewerage sector in Colombia is the high level of fragmentation of service delivery. This level of fragmentation is the result of decentralization in the late eighties and the changes implemented in the nineties. This change resulted in changes in the pattern of provision, from a centralized to a large municipal scheme and quite heterogeneous, preventing them from generating sufficient conditions for the exploitation of economies of scale and scope against the well being of society. Through the estimation of cost functions Cobb Douglas and Translog, we verify the presence of economies of scale and scope for water and sewerage services in Colombia, these economies can be used to design policies to improve the efficiency and the conservation of this natural resource (water). Similarly, it is identified that considered medium and small companies have greater economies of scale that large companies (in this case, economies of scale are low oral most nil).