Evaluating the Performance of Urban Water Utilities: Robust Nonparametric Approach
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 140, Issue 9
Abstract
This paper empirically analyzes the efficiency of urban water utilities using state-of-the-art methodology combining data envelopment analysis (DEA) and a two-stage double bootstrap procedure. In the first stage, robust efficiency estimates are obtained with an improved DEA analysis. In the second stage, a truncated regression model and a double bootstrap procedure are used to estimate the effect of a set of environmental variables on unbiased DEA estimates. The findings suggest that the efficiency scores obtained after bias correction are significantly different to the original efficiency estimates. The results also show the existence of a significant relation between efficiency and several environmental variables including the proportion of water sourced from groundwater, customer density, and residential consumption.
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Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank the editor and two reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions. Thanks are also due to Professor Lin Crase and Dr Kristof De Witte for their assistance in this research. Any remaining errors are the sole responsibility of the author.
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© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 7, 2013
Accepted: Jun 24, 2013
Published online: Jun 26, 2013
Published in print: Sep 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Sep 30, 2014
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