Measuring the total factor productivity of the portuguese water and sewerage services

The poor productivity in the water and sewerage services (WSS) has been a justification for the difficulties these entities face when trying to expand the service coverage, enhance the quality of service and reduce the cost of service. Improving the WSS productivity is, therefore, one of the best ways of protecting the customer's interests. This article presents an empirical study that computes the total factor productivity (TFP). It stresses the results obtained and discusses them, proving the low productivity of this sector in Portugal and pointing to the conclusion that the private and the rural WSS are the most productive ones.

[1]  Brian Dollery,et al.  Efficiency Measurement in Australian Local Government : The Case of NSW Municipal Water Services , 2003 .

[2]  Rolf Färe,et al.  Malmquist Productivity Indexes: A Survey of Theory and Practice , 1998 .

[3]  P. W. Wilson.  Detecting Outliers in Deterministic Nonparametric Frontier Models with Multiple Outputs , 1993 .

[4]  N. Nakayama.  Efficiency and Productivity of Water Utilities in Hyogo Prefecture , 2001 .

[5]  A. J. Monteiro,et al.  Application of performance indicators in water utilities management--a case-study in Portugal. , 2001, Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research.

[6]  P. A. White.  Efficiency and productivity in R & D , 1980 .

[7]  John Glaser.  Multifactor productivity in the utility services industries , 1993 .

[8]  R. Färe,et al.  Intertemporal Production Frontiers: With Dynamic DEA , 1996 .

[9]  Antonio Estache,et al.  Sector Organization, Governance, and the Inefficiency of African Water Utilities , 2002 .

[10]  L. R. Christensen,et al.  THE ECONOMIC THEORY OF INDEX NUMBERS AND THE MEASUREMENT OF INPUT, OUTPUT, AND PRODUCTIVITY , 1982 .

[11]  David Parker,et al.  The comparative impact of privatisation and regulation on productivity growth in the English and Welsh water and sewerage industry, 1985-99 , 2004 .

[12]  Tarek M. Harchaoui,et al.  Water Use, Shadow Prices and the Canadian Business Sector Productivity Performance , 2004 .

[13]  Moses Abramovitz,et al.  Resources and Output Trends in the United States since 1870. , 1957 .

[14]  T. Coelli,et al.  Performance measurement in the Australian water supply industry: A preliminary analysis , 2005 .

[15]  R. Färe,et al.  Productivity Developments in Swedish Hospitals: A Malmquist Output Index Approach , 1994 .

[16]  Rui Cunha Marques,et al.  A yardstick competition model for Portuguese water and sewerage services regulation , 2006 .

[17]  W. Diewert.  Fisher ideal output, input, and productivity indexes revisited , 1992 .

[18]  Rui Cunha Marques,et al.  Comparing private and public performance of Portuguese water services , 2008 .

[19]  Ronaldo Seroa da Motta,et al.  Efficiency and Regulation in the Sanitation Sector in Brazil , 2004 .

[20]  Harold O. Fried,et al.  The measurement of productive efficiency : techniques and applications , 1993 .

[21]  Antonio Estache,et al.  Efficiency Effects of 'Privatization' in Argentina's Water and Sanitation Services , 2003 .

[22]  C. Lovell,et al.  A note on the Malmquist productivity index , 1995 .

[23]  H. O. Fried,et al.  Efficiency and productivity , 2008 .