https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/28515/1/538778458.pdf

Determinants of residential water demand in Germany

Productivity and efficiency in the water industry

Recent evidence on the savings from private production of local public services has become increasingly ambiguous. Here we specify and estimate a model to explain municipal costs for solid waste collection. As we find no effect of the mode of production on costs, we put forward two hypotheses. First, progressive concentration and decreases in bidding competition may come to outweigh gains from privatization. Second, the threat of privatization may have stimulated public unit managers to search for alternative reforms. The results suggest that both inter‐municipal cooperation and recent privatization are associated with lower costs, while old privatization is not.

http://www.ub.edu/gim/articles%20web/2006/3_bel_costas_JPR.pdf

Do Public Sector Reforms Get Rusty? Local Privatization in Spain

http://doc.rero.ch/record/5244/files/1_wp0201.pdf

The use of a variable cost function in the regulation of the Italian water industry

Quantitative studies of water and sanitation utilities: a benchmarking literature survey

The purpose of this study is to analyze the cost structure of a sample of Italian wastecollection firms in order to assess economies of scale and density and, therefore, definethe optimal size of the firms. A total and a variable translog cost function were estimated using panel data for a sample of 30 firms operating at the provincial level over the period 1991–1995.

https://doc.rero.ch/record/5248/files/1_wp0102.pdf

Optimal size in the waste collection sector

This paper provides a comparative assessment of the organization of urban waste management in selected European countries and discusses the regulatory implications of the ongoing evolution. Using an institutional economic approach, focused on governance of transactions along the value chain, we argue that: i) there is evidence of an increasing shift towards operator-based integrated systems; ii) the emphasis put on material and energy recovery opens the market far beyond the traditional legal monopolies established for managing urban services. These results pose new challenges for economic regulation and make it more complicate to trace the boundary between the public service and the market domain. Spaces for competition in the market have become much larger, but the role of public regulation and planning are nonetheless more far-reaching than in the past.

/pdf/the-municipal-waste-management-sector-in-europe-shifting-162wwdzvfk.pdf

Barbara Antonioli

Papers

The use of a variable cost function in the regulation of the Italian water industry

Optimal size in the waste collection sector

The municipal waste management sector in europe: shifting boundaries between public service and the market

Assessing the impact of water service regulatory reforms in Italy: a multidimensional approach

La riforma dei servizi pubblici locali