performance of urban water service provision, high levels of inequities and inefficiency persist. In terms of water distribution and cost, these undesirable patterns have a high impact on peri-urban areas usually populated by marginalized and poor populations. The high levels of Non-Revenue Water (NRW), together with the existence of corrupt practices and mismanagement of water utilities, remain a highly controversial issue.

This situation confronts rent-seeking theory directly, explaining the performance-corruption relationship (Repetto, 1986). The presumption is that low performance in water supply service provision results from corruption because rent-seeking occurs. Hence, the implementation of performance-oriented reforms in the water supply sector, such as regulation or private sector participation, will reduce corruption, increasing the efficiency of water service provision. Nevertheless, latest evidence shows that “key elements of good political governance have a positive effect on the access to water services in developing countries. In turn, private sector participation has little influence other than increasing internal efficiency of water providers” (Krausse, 2009).

Indeed the relation between governance, corruption and performance seems to be more complex than theory wants to acknowledge. It must be reviewed further than a simple cause-effect relationship. It appears that poor management of water utilities, evidenced by high levels of NRW, justifies new investments. Such practices can be encouraged by an “opportunistic management”, whilst at the same time maintaining an influential “hydrocratic elite” in the sphere of water control.

The present research proposal aims to understand the relation between mismanagement and corruption of water control practices in water supply service provision. The research examines how this relationship affects the performance of water service provision and relates to water supply governance models at municipal peri-urban level in three African countries.

To understand the mismanagement-corruption relationship, we look at different case studies of water supply service provision in Senegal, Ghana and Kenya. Each case represents a different governance model in terms of management practices, institutional and organizational settings, and the actors in place, which affects the performance of water service provision in terms of allocative efficiency and access to water (equity). Whether regulation, decentralization and private sector participation constitute possible ways to reduce corruption is examined in the context of water sector reform.

In a second step, we propose a theoretical model based on Agent Based Modelling (ABM) (Pahl-Wostl, 2007) to reproduce complex social networks under a Socio-Ecological System (SES) framework approach. The model will allow us to test whether collaborative governance in the form of collective action in a participatory and negotiated decision-making process for water control, can reduce corruption and increase performance.

The present research benefits from the project “Transparency and Integrity in Service Delivery in Sub-Saharan Africa”. This project, carried out by Transparency International (TI) in 8 Sub-Saharan countries, aims to increase access to education, health and water by improving transparency and integrity in basic service delivery. The proposal retains focus on Senegal, Ghana and Kenya in the water sector.

Key words: water control, mismanagement, corruption, performance, collaborative governance, modelling, collective action, negotiation, participation

I am an Associate Professor of Data Analytics at Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I was the Director of Postgraduate Teaching at the Department of Management Science, Lancaster University Management School overseeing MSc programmes in Business Analytics, Management Science and Marketing Analytics, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, e-Business and Innovation, and Project Management.

My research interests lie in the areas of predictive analytics using simulation. I am particularly interested in simulation modelling methodology (symbiotic simulation, hybrid modelling, agent-based simulation, discrete-event simulation) with applications in operations and supply chain management (e.g. hospital, manufacturing, transportation, warehouse) and social dynamics (e.g. diffusion of perception). Currently, I am the associate editor of the Journal of Simulation and the secretary of The OR Society‘s Special Interest Group in Simulation. I am the track coordinator of Agent-Based Simulation for the Winter Simulation Conference 2018.

Secondary education, agent-based modeling and computational science in education

Educational inequality, higher education

Routine dynamics, Agent-based modeling, Computational social/organization science, Industrial systems engineering, etc.

I have been working in the software implementation of different kinds of complex networks inspired in real-life populations. My software may be classified on several categories: complex networks, Aedes aegypti development, dengue epidemics, cultural behavior of populations. I am also researching in education of Deaf people in Colombia.

Complex Systems, Social Modeling and Simulation
Engineering the Futures

My main interests are system dynamics and multi agent simulation used for support of business and marketing decisions (e.g. modeling of consumer markets) and in business education (e.g. development of open source business simulators). Amongst my other interests are applied marketing research, relationships between academia and industry, financial literacy, mind and concept mapping.

I am interested in the study of small-group decision-making using agent-based simulation of models grounded in sociological social psychology. I am also interested in a particular kind of small-group decision-making: peer review.

I specialize in creating agent-based models of biological systems for research and education in genetics, evolution, demography, ecology, and behavior.