title: Assessing the relative efficiency of water companies in the English and Welsh water industry: a metafrontier approach.
abstract: The assessment of relative efficiency of water companies is essential for managers and authorities. This is evident in the UK water sector where there are companies with different services such as water and sewerage companies (WaSCs) and water-only companies (WoCs). Therefore, it is a critical limitation to estimate a common production frontier for both types of companies, as it might lead to biased efficiency estimates. In this paper, a robust and reliable methodology, the metafrontier model, is applied to compare the efficiency of water companies providing different services. The results illustrate the superior performance of WaSCs compared to WoCs. It also confirms the presence of economies of scope in the UK water industry. The methodology and results of this study are of great interest for both regulators and water utility managers to make informed decisions.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ingeniería Hidráulica y Ambiental, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago, Chile. mmolinos@uc.cl.|Escuela de Arquitectura e Instituto de Estudios Urbanos, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, El Comendador 1916, Santiago, Chile. mmolinos@uc.cl.|Centro de Desarrollo Urbano Sustentable CONICYT/FONDAP/15110020, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago, Chile. mmolinos@uc.cl.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Molinos-Senante
authors.affiliation: Foundazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore 8, Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maziotis
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics for Economics, University of Valencia, Avda. Tarongers S/N, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Ramon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sala-Garrido
mesh_terms: D004526:Efficiency; D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012498:Sanitary Engineering; D014852:Wales; D014881:Water Supply
keywords: Data envelopment analysis (DEA); Economies of scope; Efficiency; Metafrontier; Water companies