Ownership, Productivity Change in the Australian Urban Water Sector: a Bootstrap Malmquist indices approach

This paper provides a comprehensive productivity analysis of 53 Australian water service providers during the period 2006-2012. Pressures for sector reform have stimulated interest in identifying and understanding the factors that can contribute to improve the performance of Australian water utilities. The aim is to provide to the policy-makers quantitative-evidences that allow to identify the best interventions, in relation to the alternative forms of ownership that characterize the water utilities in the different territories\states of Australia, to obtain productivity gains.