IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/fan/epepep/vhtml10.3280-ep2019-001002.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Italian waste in the circular economy: A agenda for industry regulators in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Antonio Massarutto

Abstract

The advent of the circular economy paradigm has definitively changed the economic nature of municipal waste management and calling for an innovative approach for its economic regulation. This paper discusses how the general framework of the theory of economic regulation of services of general economic interest can fit the MWM industry. We show that this industry exhibits specificities that require an adaptation of regulatory principles, but nonetheless cross-fertilization from the regulatory practice of other utilities is feasible. However, the recognition made shows that the applied economic research on this sector is still in its infant phase, and substantial improvements are needed in order both to understand its mechanisms from a theoretical viewpoint and to provide empirical evidence. Different from other utilities, physical network assets are less dominant and competition opportunities are larger; however, the main constraint to widespread opening of the market descends from contingent reasons determining de-facto market power, and from the superior value of service reliability and contrast to illegal operation.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio Massarutto, 2019. "Italian waste in the circular economy: A agenda for industry regulators in Italy," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(1), pages 9-48.
    • Handle: RePEc:fan:epepep:v:html10.3280/ep2019-001002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=63854&Tipo=ArticoloPDF
    Download Restriction: Single articles can be downloaded buying download credits, for info: https://www.francoangeli.it/DownloadCredit
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pérez-López, Gemma & Prior, Diego & Zafra-Gómez, José Luis & Plata-Díaz, Ana María, 2016. "Cost efficiency in municipal solid waste service delivery. Alternative management forms in relation to local population size," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 255(2), pages 583-592.
    2. AndréS GóMez-Lobo & Stefan Szymanski, 2001. "A Law of Large Numbers: Bidding and Compulsory Competitive Tendering for Refuse Collection Contracts," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 18(1), pages 105-113, February.
    3. Barbara ANTONIOLI & Antonio MASSARUTTO, 2012. "The Municipal Waste Management Sector In Europe: Shifting Boundaries Between Public Service And The Market," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 83(4), pages 505-532, December.
    4. Marques, Rui Cunha & da Cruz, Nuno Ferreira & Carvalho, Pedro, 2012. "Assessing and exploring (in)efficiency in Portuguese recycling systems using non-parametric methods," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 34-43.
    5. Eoin Reeves & Michael Barrow, 2000. "The Impact of Contracting Out on the Costs of Refuse Collection Services - The Case of Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 31(2), pages 129-150.
    6. Dubin, Jeffrey A & Navarro, Peter, 1988. "How Markets for Impure Public Goods Organize: The Case of Household Refuse Collection," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 217-241, Fall.
    7. Dijkgraaf, E. & Gradus, R. H. J. M., 2004. "Cost savings in unit-based pricing of household waste: The case of The Netherlands," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 353-371, December.
    8. Kinnaman, Thomas C., 2014. "Determining the socially optimal recycling rate," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 5-10.
    9. Raymond Gradus & Elbert Dijkgraaf & Martijn Schoute, 2016. "Is there still collusion in the Dutch waste collection market?," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(5), pages 689-697, September.
    10. Bel, Germà & Fageda, Xavier, 2010. "Empirical analysis of solid management waste costs: Some evidence from Galicia, Spain," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 187-193.
    11. Elbert Dijkgraaf & Raymond H J M Gradus, 2008. "Institutional Developments in the Dutch Waste-Collection Market," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 26(1), pages 110-126, February.
    12. Germà Bel & Raymond Gradus, 2018. "Privatisation, contracting-out and inter-municipal cooperation: new developments in local public service delivery," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(1), pages 11-21, January.
    13. Di Foggia, Giacomo & Beccarello, Massimo, 2018. "Improving efficiency in the MSW collection and disposal service combining price cap and yardstick regulation: The Italian case," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 79, pages 223-231.
    14. Bel, Germà & Warner, Mildred, 2008. "Does privatization of solid waste and water services reduce costs? A review of empirical studies," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 52(12), pages 1337-1348.
    15. E. Dijkgraaf & R. H. J. M. Gradus, 2007. "Fair competition in the refuse collection market?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(10), pages 701-704.
    16. Massarutto, Antonio, 2007. "Municipal waste management as a local utility: Options for competition in an environmentally-regulated industry," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 9-19, March.
    17. Henry Ohlsson, 2003. "Ownership and Production Costs: Choosing between Public Production and Contracting-Out in the Case of Swedish Refuse Collection," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 24(4), pages 451-476, December.
    18. Batlle, Carlos & Pérez-Arriaga, Ignacio J., 2008. "Design criteria for implementing a capacity mechanism in deregulated electricity markets," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 184-193, September.
    19. Raymond Gradus & Martijn Schoute & Elbert Dijkgraaf, 2018. "The effects of market concentration on costs of local public services: empirical evidence from Dutch waste collection," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(1), pages 86-104, January.
    20. da Cruz, Nuno F. & Ferreira, Sandra & Cabral, Marta & Simões, Pedro & Marques, Rui Cunha, 2014. "Packaging waste recycling in Europe: is the industry paying for it?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 59755, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    21. Stefan Szymanski, 1993. "Cheap rubbish? Competitive tendering and contracting out in refuse collection, 1981-88," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 14(3), pages 109-130, August.
    22. E. Dijkgraaf & R.H.J.M. Gradus (ed.), 2008. "The Waste Market," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-1-4020-8711-0, September.
    23. Rogge, Nicky & de Jaeger, Simon, 2012. "Evaluating the efficiency of municipalities in collecting and processing municipal solid waste: A shared input DEA-model," Working Papers 2012/22, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economie en Management.
    24. Stevens, Barbara J, 1978. "Scale, Market Structure, and the Cost of Refuse Collection," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 60(3), pages 438-448, August.
    25. E. Dijkgraaf & R. Gradus, 2003. "Cost Savings of Contracting Out Refuse Collection," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 30(2), pages 149-161, June.
    26. Germa Bel & Anton Costas, 2006. "Do Public Sector Reforms Get Rusty? Local Privatization in Spain," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 1-24.
    27. Marinella Favot, 2014. "Extended producer responsibility and e-waste management: do institutions matter ?," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(1), pages 123-144.
    28. Martin Medina, 2008. "The Informal recycling Sector in Developing Countries : Organizing Waste Pickers to Enhance their Impact," World Bank Publications - Reports 10586, The World Bank Group.
    29. Maarten A. Allers & J.A. de Greef, 2018. "Intermunicipal cooperation, public spending and service levels," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(1), pages 127-150, January.
    30. Joskow, Paul L., 2008. "Capacity payments in imperfect electricity markets: Need and design," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 159-170, September.
    31. De Jaeger, Simon & Rogge, Nicky, 2014. "Cost-efficiency in packaging waste management: The case of Belgium," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 106-115.
    32. Domberger, S & Meadowcroft, S & Thompson, D J, 1986. "Competitive tendering and efficiency: the case of refuse collection," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 7(4), pages 69-87, November.
    33. Rogge, Nicky & De Jaeger, Simon, 2013. "Measuring and explaining the cost efficiency of municipal solid waste collection and processing services," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 653-664.
    34. Germà Bel & Antonio Miralles, 2003. "Factors Influencing the Privatisation of Urban Solid Waste Collection in Spain," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(7), pages 1323-1334, June.
    35. Simões, Pedro & Marques, Rui Cunha, 2011. "How does the operational environment affect utility performance? A parametric study on the waste sector," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 55(7), pages 695-702.
    36. Scott J. Callan & Janet M. Thomas, 2001. "Economies of Scale and Scope: A Cost Analysis of Municipal Solid Waste Services," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 77(4), pages 548-560.
    37. Germà Bel, 2008. "Refuse Collection in Spain: Privatization, Intermunicipal Cooperation, and Concentration," Springer Books, in: E. Dijkgraaf & R.H.J.M. Gradus (ed.), The Waste Market, chapter 0, pages 83-100, Springer.
    38. Stefan Szymanski, 1996. "The impact of compulsory competitive tendering on refuse collection services," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 1-19, August.
    39. Ramos, Tânia Rodrigues Pereira & Gomes, Maria Isabel & Barbosa-Póvoa, Ana Paula, 2014. "Assessing and improving management practices when planning packaging waste collection systems," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 116-129.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Antonio Massarutto, 2020. "Economic regulation of waste management utilities: Taking stock of the Italian reform," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2020(2), pages 5-33.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bel, Germà & Fageda, Xavier, 2010. "Empirical analysis of solid management waste costs: Some evidence from Galicia, Spain," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 187-193.
    2. Bel, Germà & Warner, Mildred, 2008. "Does privatization of solid waste and water services reduce costs? A review of empirical studies," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 52(12), pages 1337-1348.
    3. Germa Bel & Anton Costas, 2006. "Do Public Sector Reforms Get Rusty? Local Privatization in Spain," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 1-24.
    4. Fusco, Elisa & Allegrini, Veronica, 2020. "The role of spatial interdependence in local government cost efficiency: An application to waste Italian sector," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    5. Soukopová, Jana & Vaceková, Gabriela & Klimovský, Daniel, 2017. "Local waste management in the Czech Republic: Limits and merits of public-private partnership and contracting out," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 201-209.
    6. Lombrano, Alessandro, 2009. "Cost efficiency in the management of solid urban waste," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 53(11), pages 601-611.
    7. Germà Bel & Xavier Fageda & Melania Mur, 2011. "Privatization, cooperation and costs of solid waste services in small towns," IREA Working Papers 201111, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Jul 2011.
    8. Bel Germà & Fageda Xavier & E. Mildred, 2014. "Is private production of public services cheaper than public production? A meta-regression analysis of solid waste and water services," Public administration issues, Higher School of Economics, issue 3, pages 103-140.
    9. Germà Bel & Xavier Fageda, 2008. "Privatization and competition in the delivery of local services: An empirical examination of the dual market hypothesis," Working Papers XREAP2008-04, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised Apr 2008.
    10. Simões, Pedro & Marques, Rui Cunha, 2011. "How does the operational environment affect utility performance? A parametric study on the waste sector," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 55(7), pages 695-702.
    11. Jana Soukopová & Vojtìch Ficek, 2014. "Factors Influencing the Selection of Waste Collection Companies by Municipalities – Are Municipal Decision Effective?," MUNI ECON Working Papers 15, Masaryk University, revised Dec 2014.
    12. Germà Bel & Melania Mur, 2008. "Intermunicipal cooperation and privatization of solid waste services among small municipalities in Spain," IREA Working Papers 200816, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Dec 2008.
    13. Soukopová Jana & Klimovský Daniel, 2016. "Local Governments and Local Waste Management in the Czech Republic: Producers or Providers?," NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy, Sciendo, vol. 9(2), pages 217-237, December.
    14. Henry Ohlsson, 2003. "Ownership and Production Costs: Choosing between Public Production and Contracting-Out in the Case of Swedish Refuse Collection," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 24(4), pages 451-476, December.
    15. Cristina M. Campos-Alba & Emilio J. De la Higuera-Molina & Gemma Pérez-López & José L. Zafra-Gómez, 2019. "Measuring the Efficiency of Public and Private Delivery Forms: An Application to the Waste Collection Service Using Order-M Data Panel Frontier Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-15, April.
    16. Suho Bae, 2010. "Public Versus Private Delivery Of Municipal Solid Waste Services: The Case Of North Carolina," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 28(3), pages 414-428, July.
    17. Simões, Pedro & Carvalho, Pedro & Marques, Rui Cunha, 2012. "Performance assessment of refuse collection services using robust efficiency measures," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 56-66.
    18. Roland Zullo, 2019. "Explaining Privatization Failure: The Vice of Sweet Carrots and Hard Sticks," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 51(1), pages 111-128, March.
    19. Germa Bel & Anton Costas, 2004. "Do public sector reforms get rusty? An empirical analysis on privatization of solid waste collection," Public Economics 0409014, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Maria Assunta Barchiesi & Roberta Costa & Francesca Di Pillo, 2022. "The Link between the Compliance with Environmental Legislation on Separate Collection and the Municipal Solid Waste Costs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-13, May.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fan:epepep:v:html10.3280/ep2019-001002. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Stefania Rosato (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/sommario.aspx?IDRivista=16 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.