IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/juipol/v19y2011i4p211-217.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regulation and performance: A production frontier estimate for the Latin American water and sanitation sector

Author

Listed:
  • Ferro, Gustavo
  • Romero, Carlos A.
  • Covelli, María Paula

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to analyze the efficiency of the water sector in Latin American countries. We try to find factors affecting efficiency rather than identifying which country or individual provider is more or less efficient. We also consider which model would be more fitting for the water sector production in this region. Our motivation is to develop instruments to make benchmarking operative for regulatory actions that can reduce information asymmetry and increase efficiency in Latin American countries. We estimate econometric efficiency frontiers using data from a regional survey conducted by the Latin American Association of Water Regulators. The paper develops a model based on the core variables that explain the phenomena and explores “environmental” (contextual or beyond management control) variables to achieve fair comparisons. The study does not “name and shame” services but provides elements to foster the development of indicative goals at the regional level.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferro, Gustavo & Romero, Carlos A. & Covelli, María Paula, 2011. "Regulation and performance: A production frontier estimate for the Latin American water and sanitation sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 211-217.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:19:y:2011:i:4:p:211-217
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2011.08.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957178711000579
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jup.2011.08.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    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. Romero, Carlos & Ferro, Gustavo, 2007. "Estimaciones de frontera para el sector de agua y saneamiento en América Latina," UADE Textos de Discusión 61_2007, Instituto de Economía, Universidad Argentina de la Empresa.
    2. Antonio Estache & MartÌn A. Rossi, 2002. "How Different Is the Efficiency of Public and Private Water Companies in Asia?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 16(1), pages 139-148, June.
    3. Romero, Carlos A. & Ferro, Gustavo, 2007. "Efficiency in Water and Sanitation Sector. A Survey on Empirical Literature," UADE Working Papers 22_2007, Instituto de Economía, Universidad Argentina de la Empresa.
    4. Ferro, Gustavo, 1999. "Indicadores de eficiencia en agua y saneamiento a partir de costos medios e indicadores de productividad parcial," UADE Textos de Discusión 7_1999, Instituto de Economía, Universidad Argentina de la Empresa.
    5. Corton, Maria Luisa, 2003. "Benchmarking in the Latin American water sector: the case of Peru," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 133-142, September.
    6. Ronaldo Seroa da Motta & Ajax R.B. Moreira, 2004. "Efficiency and Regulation in the Sanitation Sector in Brazil," Discussion Papers 1059, Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada - IPEA.
    7. Bernstein, Jeffrey I & Sappington, David E M, 1999. "Setting the X Factor in Price-Cap Regulation Plans," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 5-25, July.
    8. Kristof De Witte & Elbert Dijkgraaf, 2007. "Mean and Bold?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-092/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    9. Walter, Matthias & Cullmann, Astrid & von Hirschhausen, Christian & Wand, Robert & Zschille, Michael, 2009. "Quo vadis efficiency analysis of water distribution? A comparative literature review," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(3-4), pages 225-232, September.
    10. Chen Lin & Sanford Berg, 2008. "Incorporating Service Quality into Yardstick Regulation: An Application to the Peru Water Sector," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 32(1), pages 53-75, February.
    11. Bottasso, Anna & Conti, Maurizio, 2003. "Cost Inefficiency in the English and Welsh Water Industry: An Heteroskedastic Stochastic Cost Frontier Approach," Economics Discussion Papers 8872, University of Essex, Department of Economics.
    12. Ferro, Gustavo, 2007. "Uso de fronteras de eficiencia econométricas con fines de benchmarking," UADE Textos de Discusión 60_2007, Instituto de Economía, Universidad Argentina de la Empresa.
    13. Colin Kirkpatrick & David Parker & Yin-Fang Zhang, 2006. "An Empirical Analysis of State and Private-Sector Provision of Water Services in Africa," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 20(1), pages 143-163.
    14. Lin, Chen, 2005. "Service quality and prospects for benchmarking: Evidence from the Peru water sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 230-239, September.
    15. Estache, Antonio & Kouassi, Eugene, 2002. "Sector organization, governance, and the inefficiency of African water utilities," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2890, The World Bank.
    16. Berg, Sanford V & Marques, Rui Cunha, 2010. "Quantitative studies of water and sanitation utilities: a literature survey," MPRA Paper 32891, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Cubbin, John & Tzanidakis, George, 1998. "Regression versus data envelopment analysis for efficiency measurement: an application to the England and Wales regulated water industry," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 75-85, June.
    18. E L Lynk, 1993. "Privatisation, joint production and the comparative efficiencies of private and public ownership: the UK water industry case," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 14(2), pages 98-116, May.
    19. Antonioli, B. & Filippini, M., 2001. "The use of a variable cost function in the regulation of the Italian water industry," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 10(3-4), pages 181-187.
    20. Cécile Aubert & Arnaud Reynaud, 2005. "The Impact of Regulation on Cost Efficiency: An Empirical Analysis of Wisconsin Water Utilities," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 383-409, July.
    21. Bhattacharyya, Arunava & Harris, Thomas R. & Narayanan, Rangesan & Raffiee, Kambiz, 1995. "Specification and estimation of the effect of ownership on the economic efficiency of the water utilities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 759-784, December.
    22. Tupper, Henrique Cesar & Resende, Marcelo, 2004. "Efficiency and regulatory issues in the Brazilian water and sewage sector: an empirical study," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 29-40, March.
    23. Romero, Carlos A. & Ferro, Gustavo, 2008. "A Benchmarking Exercise on Latin American Water Util," UADE Working Papers 27_2008, Instituto de Economía, Universidad Argentina de la Empresa.
    24. Timothy J. Coelli & D.S. Prasada Rao & Christopher J. O’Donnell & George E. Battese, 2005. "An Introduction to Efficiency and Productivity Analysis," Springer Books, Springer, edition 0, number 978-0-387-25895-9, September.
    25. Sabbioni, Guillermo, 2008. "Efficiency in the Brazilian sanitation sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 11-20, March.
    26. Mugisha, Silver, 2007. "Effects of incentive applications on technical efficiencies: Empirical evidence from Ugandan water utilities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 225-233, December.
    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. Barbosa, Alexandro & Lima, Severino Cesário de & Brusca, Isabel, 2016. "Governance and efficiency in the Brazilian water utilities: A dynamic analysis in the process of universal access," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(PA), pages 82-96.
    2. Reynaud, Arnaud & Thomas, Alban, 2013. "Firm's profitability and regulation in water and network industries: An empirical analysis," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 48-58.
    3. Ferro, Gustavo & Lentini, Emilio J. & Mercadier, Augusto C. & Romero, Carlos A., 2013. "Eficiencia en la prestación de agua y saneamiento y su vinculación con regiones, propiedad e independencia de los prestadores en Brasil [Efficiency in water and sanitation providers and its links w," MPRA Paper 48247, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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. Alexandr Akimov & Paul Simshauser, 2018. "Performance measurement in Australian water utilities: Current state and future directions," Discussion Papers in Finance finance:201802, Griffith University, Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics.
    2. Walter, Matthias & Cullmann, Astrid & von Hirschhausen, Christian & Wand, Robert & Zschille, Michael, 2009. "Quo vadis efficiency analysis of water distribution? A comparative literature review," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(3-4), pages 225-232, September.
    3. Byrnes, Joel & Crase, Lin & Dollery, Brian & Villano, Renato, 2010. "The relative economic efficiency of urban water utilities in regional New South Wales and Victoria," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 439-455, August.
    4. Abbott, Malcolm & Cohen, Bruce, 2009. "Productivity and efficiency in the water industry," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(3-4), pages 233-244, September.
    5. Guerrini, Andrea & Romano, Giulia & Leardini, Chiara, 2018. "Economies of scale and density in the Italian water industry: A stochastic frontier approach," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 103-111.
    6. Danelon, André F. & Spolador, Humberto F.S. & Kumbhakar, Subal C., 2021. "Weather and population size effects on water and sewer treatment costs: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    7. Barbosa, Alexandro & Lima, Severino Cesário de & Brusca, Isabel, 2016. "Governance and efficiency in the Brazilian water utilities: A dynamic analysis in the process of universal access," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(PA), pages 82-96.
    8. Romano, Giulia & Guerrini, Andrea, 2011. "Measuring and comparing the efficiency of water utility companies: A data envelopment analysis approach," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 202-209.
    9. Andrea Guerrini & Giulia Romano & Bettina Campedelli, 2013. "Economies of Scale, Scope, and Density in the Italian Water Sector: A Two-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis Approach," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(13), pages 4559-4578, October.
    10. Sabbioni, Guillermo, 2008. "Efficiency in the Brazilian sanitation sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 11-20, March.
    11. Mellah, Thuraya & Ben Amor, Tawfik, 2016. "Performance of the Tunisian Water Utility: An input-distance function approach," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 18-32.
    12. Jinjin Zhao, 2020. "Productivity change in the privatized water sector in China (1999–2006)," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 227-241, April.
    13. Miguel A. García-Rubio & Francisco González-Gómez & Jorge Guardiola, 2009. "Performance and ownership in the governance of urban water," FEG Working Paper Series 09/03, Faculty of Economics and Business (University of Granada).
    14. Francisco González-Gómez & Miguel García‐Rubio & Francisco Alcalá-Olid & M. Ortega-Díaz, 2013. "Outsourcing and Efficiency in the Management of Rural Water Services," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(3), pages 731-747, February.
    15. Mande Buafua, Patrick, 2015. "Efficiency of urban water supply in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do organization and regulation matter?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 13-22.
    16. Chen Lin & Sanford Berg, 2008. "Incorporating Service Quality into Yardstick Regulation: An Application to the Peru Water Sector," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 32(1), pages 53-75, February.
    17. Higuerey, Angel & Trujillo, Lourdes & González, María Manuela, 2017. "Has efficiency improved after the decentralization in the water industry in Venezuela?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 127-136.
    18. Picazo-Tadeo, Andres J. & Saez-Fernandez, Francisco J. & Gonzalez-Gomez, Francisco, 2008. "Does service quality matter in measuring the performance of water utilities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 30-38, March.
    19. Picazo-Tadeo, Andrés J. & Sáez-Fernández, Francisco J. & González-Gómez, Francisco, 2008. "Assesing Performance in the Management of the Urban Water Cycle," Efficiency Series Papers 2008/01, University of Oviedo, Department of Economics, Oviedo Efficiency Group (OEG).
    20. Lin, Chen, 2005. "Service quality and prospects for benchmarking: Evidence from the Peru water sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 230-239, September.

    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:eee:juipol:v:19:y:2011:i:4:p:211-217. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/utilities-policy .

    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.