The cost efficiency of water utilities: when does public ownership matter?
This study explores the impact of different ownership types on the efficiency of water utilities. Theories and evidence have shown a puzzling relationship between ownership and performance. Moreover, relatively recent contributions (Andrews et al. 2011) have argued that this relationship can be furt...
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor and Francis
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41339/ |
| _version_ | 1848796252822568960 |
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| author | Pazzi, Silvia Tortosa-ausina, Emili Duygun, Meryem Zambelli, Simona |
| author_facet | Pazzi, Silvia Tortosa-ausina, Emili Duygun, Meryem Zambelli, Simona |
| author_sort | Pazzi, Silvia |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This study explores the impact of different ownership types on the efficiency of water utilities. Theories and evidence have shown a puzzling relationship between ownership and performance. Moreover, relatively recent contributions (Andrews et al. 2011) have argued that this relationship can be further convoluted by the effect of organisational and environmental variables. The current study aims to contribute to this literature by providing some empirical evidence for Italy, by proposing a methodology that combines non-parametric efficiency estimation and cluster analysis. Our main findings indicate that privately owned utilities indirectly controlled by a public organisation reach the highest level of efficiency but, when size and geographical location enter the analysis, ownership has a stronger significant effect on efficiency, and mixed utilities gain higher cost efficiency. Therefore, we may conclude that administrative reforms about privatisation and the institutional setting should consider a set of variables that characterise each individual organisation. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:45:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-41339 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:45:02Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Taylor and Francis |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-413392020-05-04T18:06:28Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41339/ The cost efficiency of water utilities: when does public ownership matter? Pazzi, Silvia Tortosa-ausina, Emili Duygun, Meryem Zambelli, Simona This study explores the impact of different ownership types on the efficiency of water utilities. Theories and evidence have shown a puzzling relationship between ownership and performance. Moreover, relatively recent contributions (Andrews et al. 2011) have argued that this relationship can be further convoluted by the effect of organisational and environmental variables. The current study aims to contribute to this literature by providing some empirical evidence for Italy, by proposing a methodology that combines non-parametric efficiency estimation and cluster analysis. Our main findings indicate that privately owned utilities indirectly controlled by a public organisation reach the highest level of efficiency but, when size and geographical location enter the analysis, ownership has a stronger significant effect on efficiency, and mixed utilities gain higher cost efficiency. Therefore, we may conclude that administrative reforms about privatisation and the institutional setting should consider a set of variables that characterise each individual organisation. Taylor and Francis 2016-08-19 Article PeerReviewed Pazzi, Silvia, Tortosa-ausina, Emili, Duygun, Meryem and Zambelli, Simona (2016) The cost efficiency of water utilities: when does public ownership matter? Local Government Studies, 42 (6). pp. 980-1003. ISSN 1743-9388 efficiency geographical location ownership size water utilities http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03003930.2016.1207630 doi:10.1080/03003930.2016.1207630 doi:10.1080/03003930.2016.1207630 |
| spellingShingle | efficiency geographical location ownership size water utilities Pazzi, Silvia Tortosa-ausina, Emili Duygun, Meryem Zambelli, Simona The cost efficiency of water utilities: when does public ownership matter? |
| title | The cost efficiency of water utilities: when does public ownership matter? |
| title_full | The cost efficiency of water utilities: when does public ownership matter? |
| title_fullStr | The cost efficiency of water utilities: when does public ownership matter? |
| title_full_unstemmed | The cost efficiency of water utilities: when does public ownership matter? |
| title_short | The cost efficiency of water utilities: when does public ownership matter? |
| title_sort | cost efficiency of water utilities: when does public ownership matter? |
| topic | efficiency geographical location ownership size water utilities |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41339/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41339/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41339/ |