Performance analytics for regulation in retail water utilities
Guiding asset management by identifying peers and targets
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12246346 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hermilio Vilarinho (0000-0002-8208-2307, Universidade do Porto, corresponding author), Giovanna D’Inverno (0000-0002-9738-4121, University of Pisa), Henriqueta Nóvoa (0000-0002-6437-9262, Universidade do Porto), Ana S Camanho (0000-0001-7683-5889, Universidade do Porto) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 82 |
| Pages | 101559-101559 |
| Publication date | 2023-04-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Utilities Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0957-1787 • E-ISSN: 1878-4356 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.jup.2023.101559 |
| OpenAlex | W4367187763 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 72 |
This research evaluates the performance of water supply utilities operating at the retail level in Portugal concerning asset management practices. The study’s main innovative feature is identifying peers and targets to guide improvements in the sector. Reliable data collected by the regulatory authority for water and waste services in Portugal (ERSAR) are employed to design two composite indicators reflecting different dimensions of asset management: operational conditions and management systems. Based on the Data Envelopment Analysis technique, the Benefit-of-the-Doubt model is employed in robust and conditional formulations. The role of the context on utilities’ performance is also investigated. The results show that the direct management model is unfavourable concerning developing structured management systems, whilst urban environments favour managerial advancement. Rural and semi-urban environments favour “good” operational results in infrastructures. The pool of peers obtained for each utility and the quantification of targets based on the observed achievements by those peers facilitates the search for industry best practices and promotes continuous improvement. Given the high heterogeneity in asset management performance within the sector, the utility-specific target-setting approach illustrated in this paper can support a regulatory policy review for determining more realistic goals
Analytics · Asset (computer security · Asset management · Best practice · Business · Computer security · Context (archaeology · Data envelopment analysis · Data science · Economics · Environmental economics · IT asset management · Process management · Risk analysis (engineering · Computer Science · Efficiency Analysis Using DEA · Infrastructure Maintenance and Monitoring · Water Systems and Optimization · Finance
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| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |