Institutional capacity for basic sanitation planning: insights from Brazil

Abstract Although the literature on sanitation is vast, the relationship between the local institutional structure and planning capacity remains a gap in the area, affecting the performance of local policies to expand access to these services. Contributing to this discussion, we aim to understand the effects of local institutional capacity on the development or not of local public policies for basic sanitation (PPSB) by Brazilian municipal managers. Using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and binomial logistic regression, we analyzed a panel of data from the municipalities of Minas Gerais state from 2010 to 2019. We therefore propose a model that verified different dimensions of the institutional capacity of these municipalities, confirming their effects on the probability of developing municipal basic sanitation policies. We found that higher levels of income negatively influenced the likelihood of policy realization, while higher levels of expenditure encouraged policy making. The results also suggest that efforts towards greater governance and social involvement can contribute greatly, since, in addition to the lack of adequate resources and training, the public manager's political will can constitute one of the central obstacles to universalization access to basic sanitation services.