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Water Resources Management
Erschienen in: Water Resources Management 13/2013

01.10.2013

Economies of Scale, Scope, and Density in the Italian Water Sector: A Two-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

verfasst von: Andrea Guerrini, Giulia Romano, Bettina Campedelli

Erschienen in: Water Resources Management | Ausgabe 13/2013

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Abstract

Public utilities could improve their efficiency by pursuing specific strategies, such as growth, diversification of investments, or serving mainly high densely areas. For example, in the water sector, economies of scope and scale both appear possible, but extant literature does not offer clear or consensual findings. To address this lack of clarity, this article investigates the potential for efficiency improvement in the diverse Italian water sector, which comprises utilities of various sizes, operating in areas with various population densities and organized as mono- or multi-utilities. Technical and financial data from 64 different utilities were collected and then analyzed with a two-stage data envelopment analysis approach to reveal the impacts of different operational and exogenous variables on efficiency, including firm size, the degree of investment diversification, and customer density. The results obtained confirm the existence of all three types of economies (scale, scope and density), albeit with different impacts for each DEA score.
Vorheriger Artikel Assessing Water Quality of Three Gorges Reservoir, China, Over a Five-Year Period From 2006 to 2011
Nächster Artikel Evaluating Infiltration Mechanisms Using Breakthrough Curve and Mean Residence Time

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Metadaten
Titel
Economies of Scale, Scope, and Density in the Italian Water Sector: A Two-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis Approach
verfasst von
Andrea Guerrini
Giulia Romano
Bettina Campedelli
Publikationsdatum
01.10.2013
Verlag
Springer Netherlands
Erschienen in
Water Resources Management / Ausgabe 13/2013
Print ISSN: 0920-4741
Elektronische ISSN: 1573-1650
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-013-0426-9

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