Yardstick regulation requires the utilization of benchmarking, a valuable tool for improving the public service delivery, especially in developing countries where inefficiencies translate into negative health impacts and social unrest. However, research must account for both cost and quality of...

This paper analyzes the conduct of publicly owned monopolistic utilities regulated by a voluntary sunshine regulatory model (i.e. publication of the performances of utilities). In particular, we examine the behaviour of Dutch drinking water utilities before and after the introduction of the...

This paper aims to analyse the price regulation method and performance of the water industry in Slovenia. A stochastic cost frontier model is employed to estimate and decompose the total factor productivity (TFP) growth of water distribution utilities in the 1997-2003 period. The main goal is to...

The problem that we address in this paper stems from the trend to delegation in the water management field. It refers to the municipality's negotiating disadvantage in the face of cartelized water management firms that makes delegation, once undertaken, virtually irreversible. We show why the...

We consider three explanations for public ownership: public interest, regulation, and a transaction cost interpretation. We employ a large dataset containing information on the municipal acquisition of U.S. private water companies between 1897 and 1915. Those data allow us to isolate the effects...

Spanish authorities have recently approved a new legislative framework for the creation of local water markets to improve allocative efficiency for this scarce resource. This paper analyses the potential impacts of the policy. A utility function for three groups of farmers was elicited, using a...