ABSTRACT
Building on the theoretical part of the project, which answers the question of what forms of governmental intervention are required to establish and maintain a functioning water market, the empirical analysis focuses on two jurisdictions, California and Spain, and aims to explain why water markets have been more active in California than in Spain. The underlying hypothesis is that the different performances of market mechanisms can be explained by the type of governmental roles undertaken by water agencies in these jurisdictions and the degree of their fulfillment, although it is obviously difficult to measure the intensity of governmental performance.
