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Efficiency in the management of urban water services. What have we learned after four decades of research?

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Author Info
Francisco González Gómez () (Universidad de Granada)
Miguel Angel García Rubio () (Universidad de Granada)

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Abstract

The analysis of efficiency in the management of urban water services offers valuable information both for the managers of this service and for public bodies in order to introduce improvements in business practices and in the design of public policies. Since the pioneering study carried out by Ford and Wardford (1969), there have been many attempts to follow this line of research. Due to the importance of the subject and the volume of publications in this field, we believe it is necessary to provide a balance of the work carried out over the last four decades. In this overview, we look at the main questions which have arisen over this period, we provide a synthesis of the results obtained and, finally, we point out some challenges for future research.

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File URL: http://www.ief.es/Publicaciones/Revistas/Hacienda%20Publica/185_Efficiency.pdf
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Publisher Info
Article provided by IEF in its journal Hacienda Pública Española/Revista de Economía Pública.

Volume (Year): 185 (2008)
Issue (Month): 2 (July)
Pages: 39-67
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Handle: RePEc:hpe:journl:y:2008:v:185:i:2:p:39-67

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Related research
Keywords: Water utilities; Efficiency; Firm behaviour; Water;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
L95 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Gas Utilities; Pipelines; Water Utilities
L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General
D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior
Q25 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Water

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Colin Kirkpatrick & David Parker & Yin-Fang Zhang, 2006. "An Empirical Analysis of State and Private-Sector Provision of Water Services in Africa," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 143-163.
  2. David Saal & David Parker & Tom Weyman-Jones, 2007. "Determining the contribution of technical change, efficiency change and scale change to productivity growth in the privatized English and Welsh water and sewerage industry: 1985–2000," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 127-139, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Thanassoulis, Emmanuel, 2000. "The use of data envelopment analysis in the regulation of UK water utilities: Water distribution," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 436-453, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Nauges, Celine & van den Berg, Caroline, 2007. "How"natural"are natural monopolies in the water supply and sewerage sector ? Case studies from developing and transition economies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4137, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  5. Johannes Sauer & Klaus Frohberg, 2007. "Allocative efficiency of rural water supply – a globally flexible SGM cost frontier," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 31-40, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Torres, Marcelo & Morrison Paul, Catherine J., 2006. "Driving forces for consolidation or fragmentation of the US water utility industry: A cost function approach with endogenous output," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 104-120, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Hunt, Lester C & Lynk, Edward L, 1995. "Privatisation and Efficiency in the UK Water Industry: An Empirical Analysis," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 57(3), pages 371-88, August.
  8. David S Saal & David Parker, 2000. "The impact of privatization and regulation on the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales: a translog cost function model," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(6), pages 253-268. [Downloadable!]
  9. Ohlsson, H., 1998. "Ownership and Production Costs Choosing Between Public Production and Contracting Out," Papers 1998-6, Uppsala - Working Paper Series.
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Francisco Gonzalez-Gomez & Jorge Guardiola & Teresa Garcia-Muñoz, 2009. "The link between water access and subjective well-being: some methods and proposals," ThE Papers 09/02, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada.. [Downloadable!]
  2. Angel Prieto & José L. Zofio & Inmaculada Alvarez, 2009. "Economies of scale, density and scope in public provision of basic local infraestructure," Hacienda Pública Española, IEF, vol. 190(3), pages 59-94, September. [Downloadable!]
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