IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/waterr/v27y2013i9p3409-3419.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ownership, Investment Policies and Funding Choices of Italian Water Utilities: An Empirical Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Giulia Romano
  • Andrea Guerrini
  • Silvia Vernizzi

Abstract

Nowadays, the efficient management of water has become the focus of vast debate, both in the academic literature and in the practical and regulatory field. Due to the growing importance and scarcity of water resources, it has become crucial to better understand how to improve the organizational efficiency of water utilities. By adopting an accounting perspective and using statistical methods, this paper analyzes whether and to what extent investment and financial strategies differ among clusters of water utilities with different ownership structures. The paper focuses on the Italian water industry, a context considered particularly appropriate due to the coexistence of utilities with different ownership structures. The main results of the paper show that ownership affects the level of investment as well as the financial structure and costs of water utilities. The evidence provided by this study should encourage national governments and regulatory authorities to select water utilities with the greatest investment potential measured in terms of financial efficiency and effectiveness. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Giulia Romano & Andrea Guerrini & Silvia Vernizzi, 2013. "Ownership, Investment Policies and Funding Choices of Italian Water Utilities: An Empirical Analysis," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(9), pages 3409-3419, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:27:y:2013:i:9:p:3409-3419
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-013-0354-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11269-013-0354-8
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11269-013-0354-8?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. 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.
    2. Ghina Yamout & Dima Jamali, 2007. "A critical assessment of a proposed public private partnership (PPP) for the management of water services in Lebanon," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 21(3), pages 611-634, March.
    3. Greg Barrett & Margaret Wallace, 2011. "An Institutional Economics Perspective: The Impact of Water Provider Privatisation on Water Conservation in England and Australia," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(5), pages 1325-1340, March.
    4. Edward I. Altman, 1968. "Financial Ratios, Discriminant Analysis And The Prediction Of Corporate Bankruptcy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(4), pages 589-609, September.
    5. Briceno-Garmendia, Cecilia & Estache, Antonio & Shafik, Nemat, 2004. "Infrastructure services in developing countries : access, quality, costs and policy reform," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3468, The World Bank.
    6. Abbott, Malcolm & Cohen, Bruce, 2009. "Productivity and efficiency in the water industry," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(3-4), pages 233-244, September.
    7. Edward I. Altman, 1968. "The Prediction Of Corporate Bankruptcy: A Discriminant Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(1), pages 193-194, March.
    8. 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.
    9. Lobina, Emanuele & Hall, David, 2007. "Experience with private sector participation in Grenoble, France, and lessons on strengthening public water operations," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 93-109, June.
    10. Matthew D. Hill & G. Wayne Kelly & Michael J. Highfield, 2010. "Net Operating Working Capital Behavior: A First Look," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 39(2), pages 783-805, June.
    11. Vinnari, Eija M. & Hukka, Jarmo J., 2007. "Great expectations, tiny benefits - Decision-making in the privatization of Tallinn water," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 78-85, June.
    12. Paola Fabbri & Giovanni Fraquelli, 2000. "Costs and Structure of Technology in the Italian Water Industry," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 27(1), pages 65-82, March.
    13. Patrick L. Brockett & Boaz Golany, 1996. "Using Rank Statistics for Determining Programmatic Efficiency Differences in Data Envelopment Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(3), pages 466-472, March.
    14. 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.
    15. Guerrini, Andrea & Romano, Giulia, 2013. "The process of tariff setting in an unstable legal framework: An Italian case study," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 78-85.
    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. Samara López-Ruiz & Nazaret Ibáñez-Rueda & Jorge Guardiola & Francisco González-Gómez, 2023. "Does the Ownership of Water Utilities Influence Water-Saving Advice Provided to Service Users? An Analysis of the Spanish Water Sector," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 37(8), pages 3299-3318, June.
    2. Wolfgang Krinner, 2014. "Financial Analysis of the Spanish Water Sector," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(9), pages 2471-2490, July.
    3. 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.
    4. Giulia Romano & Andrea Guerrini, 2019. "Paying Returns to Shareholders of Water Utilities: Evidence from Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-12, April.
    5. Marta Suárez-Varela & María los Ángeles García-Valiñas & Francisco González-Gómez & Andrés J Picazo-Tadeo, 2017. "Ownership and Performance in Water Services Revisited: Does Private Management Really Outperform Public?," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(8), pages 2355-2373, June.
    6. María Molinos-Senante & Manuel Mocholi-Arce & Ramón Sala-Garrido, 2016. "Efficiency Assessment of Water and Sewerage Companies: a Disaggregated Approach Accounting for Service Quality," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(12), pages 4311-4328, September.
    7. Romano, Giulia & Molinos-Senante, María & Guerrini, Andrea, 2017. "Water utility efficiency assessment in Italy by accounting for service quality: An empirical investigation," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 97-108.
    8. Anna Białek‐Jaworska, 2022. "Revenue diversification and municipally owned companies’ role in shaping the debt of municipalities," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(4), pages 931-975, December.
    9. Giulia Romano & Nicola Salvati & Andrea Guerrini, 2014. "Factors Affecting Water Utility Companies’ Decision to Promote the Reduction of Household Water Consumption," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(15), pages 5491-5505, December.
    10. 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.
    11. Eduardo Araral & Alberto Asquer & Yahua Wang, 2017. "Regulatory Constructivism: Application of Q Methodology in Italy and China," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(8), pages 2497-2521, June.
    12. Miguel A. García-Rubio & Cecilia Tortajada & Francisco González-Gómez, 2016. "Privatising Water Utilities and User Perception of Tap Water Quality: Evidence from Spanish Urban Water Services," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(1), pages 315-329, January.
    13. Romano, Giulia & Guerrini, Andrea & Campedelli, Bettina, 2015. "The new Italian water tariff method: A launching point for novel infrastructures or a backwards step?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 45-53.
    14. Romano, Giulia & Guerrini, Andrea, 2014. "The effects of ownership, board size and board composition on the performance of Italian water utilities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 18-28.
    15. D’Inverno, Giovanna & Carosi, Laura & Romano, Giulia, 2021. "Environmental sustainability and service quality beyond economic and financial indicators: A performance evaluation of Italian water utilities," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    16. Graziano Abrate & Clementina Bruno & Fabrizio Erbetta & Giovanni Fraquelli & Anna Giolitti, 2017. "Efficiency in the Consolidation of the Italian Water Sector," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(8), pages 2447-2463, June.
    17. Reza, Rajibur & Tularam, Gurudeo Anand & Li, Bin, 2021. "A review of global research on private investment in the water sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Romano, Giulia & Guerrini, Andrea, 2014. "The effects of ownership, board size and board composition on the performance of Italian water utilities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 18-28.
    4. 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.
    5. Michael Zschille, 2014. "Nonparametric measures of returns to scale: an application to German water supply," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 1029-1053, November.
    6. Peeter Peda & Giuseppe Grossi & Margo Liik, 2013. "Do ownership and size affect the performance of water utilities? Evidence from Estonian municipalities," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(2), pages 237-259, May.
    7. Tarek Ibrahim Eldomiaty & Mohamed Hashem Rashwan & Mohamed Bahaa El Din & Waleed Tayel, 2016. "Firm, industry and economic determinants of working capital at risk," International Journal of Financial Engineering (IJFE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(04), pages 1-29, December.
    8. Zschille, Michael, 2012. "Consolidating the Water Industry: An Analysis of the Potential Gains from Horizontal Integration in a Conditional Efficiency Fr," CEPR Discussion Papers 8737, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Carvalho, Anne Emília Costa & Sampaio, Luciano Menezes Bezerra, 2015. "Paths to universalize water and sewage services in Brazil: The role of regulatory authorities in promoting efficient service," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-10.
    10. Romano, Giulia & Molinos-Senante, María & Guerrini, Andrea, 2017. "Water utility efficiency assessment in Italy by accounting for service quality: An empirical investigation," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 97-108.
    11. Carvalho, Pedro & Marques, Rui Cunha & Berg, Sanford, 2012. "A meta-regression analysis of benchmarking studies on water utilities market structure," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 40-49.
    12. Ben-Nasr, Hamdi, 2016. "State and foreign ownership and the value of working capital management," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 217-240.
    13. Michael Zschille, 2014. "Marktstrukturen in der Trinkwasserversorgung," DIW Roundup: Politik im Fokus 43, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    14. Markus Mättö & Mervi Niskanen, 2021. "Role of the legal and financial environments in determining the efficiency of working capital management in European SMEs," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 5197-5216, October.
    15. Sebastian Steinker & Mario Pesch & Kai Hoberg, 2016. "Inventory management under financial distress: an empirical analysis," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(17), pages 5182-5207, September.
    16. Meryem Duygun & Silvia Pazzi & Emili Tortosa-Ausina & Simona Zambelli, 2014. "Does local public ownership matter for the efficiency of water utilities? Evidence from Italy," Working Papers 2014/21, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    17. Anne-Kathrin Faust & Andrea Baranzini, 2014. "The economic performance of Swiss drinking water utilities," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 383-397, June.
    18. Baños-Caballero, Sonia & García-Teruel, Pedro J. & Martínez-Solano, Pedro, 2014. "Working capital management, corporate performance, and financial constraints," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 332-338.
    19. Ahmad, Muhammad Farooq & Aktas, Nihat & Croci, Ettore, 2023. "Climate risk and deployment of corporate resources to working capital," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    20. Massarutto, Antonio & Grassetti, Luca & Lambardi di San Miniato, Michele & Moletta, Mattia, 2023. "Efficient firms are all alike, but every inefficient firm is such in its own way: Heterogeneity of costs determinants in the Italian water sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

    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:spr:waterr:v:27:y:2013:i:9:p:3409-3419. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.