The article demonstrates that the position of dominance of state-owned sanitation companies affects the decision-making in public policy sector in Brazil. The article describes the edition of Law of Water Supply 11.445/2007 which has established the new regulatory regime for the sector. It concludes that the new institutional arrangement preserved the hegemony of state-owned sanitation companies. This hegemony can be associated with a low accountability of investment decisions and expansion of sector coverage.
sanitation policy; regulatory regime; path dependency; Brazil Sanitation Law 11445/2007