Search results for "Envelopment"
showing 10 items of 125 documents
ESTIMATION OF PRIVATE AND SOCIAL RATES OF RETURN TO INVESTMENTS IN EDUCATION IN LATVIA
2013
The main aim of the paper is to evaluate the rates of return to investments in education at individual and society level as well. The task of the paper is to provide detailed analysis and estimation of the variables which impact the private and social rates of return. It is based on Professor Angel de la Fuente methodology complemented by Mincer earnings function and non-parametric DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) method to estimate world technological frontier and the technological gap. For this purpose the authors build the matrix with respective years of schooling depending from level of schooling and birth of year taking into account the differences in schooling system since 1940ties. Th…
A composite indicator index as a proxy for measuring the quality of water supply as perceived by users for urban water services
2021
Abstract The objective of this study is to develop a composite indicator (CI) to measure the quality of water supply based on the variables that are considered to affect users’ perceptions of water supply quality. The proposed CI includes six relevant aspects that determine users’ perceptions of water supply quality (network quality, water quality, water price, complaints, inconvenience caused by upgrading the network, and continuity of service) in a simple, economical, and objective way, using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) with weights based on data envelopment analysis (DEA). The CI was applied to 32 municipalities in the metropolitan area of Valencia (Spain). The results show t…
Measuring the eco-efficiency of wastewater treatment plants under data uncertainty
2018
Abstract Eco-efficiency assessment is a useful tool for improving the sustainability of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, it is a complex task that requires the integration of several performance indicators into a single index. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is established as a highly effective methodology for achieving this as it permits the integration of the service value, resource consumption and environmental impact variables as the desirable outputs, inputs and undesirable outputs, respectively. However, traditional DEA models omit uncertainties in the data that are likely to result in biased conclusions. This study pioneers the assessment of the eco-efficiency of WWTPs w…
Does service quality matter in measuring the performance of water utilities?
2008
Abstract Quality is a dimension of water services that has been repeatedly omitted in the study of performance of water utilities. In this paper, Data Envelopment Analysis techniques are used to compute both conventional quantity-based and quality-adjusted scores of technical efficiency for a sample of Spanish water utilities. The key assumptions are that a lack of quality (bad quality) can be regarded as a bad output and the existence of a trade-off between quantity and quality. Our main results indicate that quality matters in measuring technical efficiency, the difference between conventional and quality-adjusted evaluations representing the opportunity cost of maintaining quality. Avera…
Assessing the quality of service to customers provided by water utilities: A synthetic index approach
2017
Abstract Currently, water and sewer companies face the challenge of improving their quality of service to customers (QSC). Performance indicators are essential to monitor and benchmark the QSC of water companies; however, individual indicators do not provide a holistic evaluation of the quality of water and sewer services provided to customers. This study proposes an innovative QSC index based on distance-function techniques that makes it possible to compare changes in the QSC of water companies among locations and temporal periods. A case study assesses changes in QSC for a sample of Chilean water and sewer companies from 2007 to 2014. The results show that in spite of the efforts made by …
Accounting for service quality to customers in the efficiency of water companies: evidence from England and Wales
2015
This paper investigates the role of service quality to customers in the efficiency assessment of water companies in England and Wales. To achieve this, data envelopment analysis techniques are employed to compute the technical efficiency of the water companies following two approaches: (i) traditional assessment based on quantity variables (without the inclusion of service quality variables) and (ii) alternative assessment considering quantity and service quality variables as undesirable outputs. The analysis covers 22 water and sewerage companies and water only companies providing drinking water services. The results indicate that the traditional efficiency assessment reveals a high level …
Valutazione degli effetti della legge di riordino del Servizio Sanitario Regionale siciliano su efficienza e appropriatezza delle prestazioni ospedal…
2014
La Legge Regionale n. 5 del 14 aprile 2009 segna un punto di svolta nel processo di riforme che ha interessato il Servizio Sanitario della Regione Siciliana, introducendo, tra l’altro, interventi mirati alla razionalizzazione della rete ospedaliera. Obiettivo del presente lavoro è valutare gli effetti della riforma sulla produzione dei servizi ospedalieri in termini di efficienza e di appropriatezza. L’ipotesi da verificare è se il mutamento del quadro normativo, entro il quale si sono trovati ad operare gli ospedali pubblici e privati accreditati, ha reso possibile il raggiungimento degli obiettivi prestabiliti di efficienza, di riduzione degli sprechi nell’utilizzo delle risorse e miglior…
Metodi e modelli di pianificazione e progettazione eliportuale per servizi di trasporto civile
2014
Changes in the total costs of the English and Welsh water and sewerage industry: The decomposed effect of price and quantity inputs on efficiency
2020
Abstract Understanding what drives changes in regulated water companies' costs is of great relevance to water regulators. This study decomposes and estimates the change in total costs for a sample of ten water and sewerage companies in England and Wales from 1993 to 2016. The results demonstrate that companies' total costs increased over time due to increases in input prices and input quantity. Any gains obtained from the efficient allocation of resources and technical progress were lost due to mergers and technical inefficiency. Finally, we link our results with the regulatory cycle to evaluate the impact of the regulatory regime on companies' costs and discuss some policy implications.
Impact of external costs of unplanned supply interruptions on water company efficiency: Evidence from Chile
2020
Abstract Conventional performance assessments of water companies ignore the external costs due to water supply outages. To overcome this gap, we evaluate the impact of external costs of unplanned supply interruptions on the efficiency of water companies. Two efficiency metrics, internal technical efficiency (ITE), and total technical efficiency (TTE), were estimated based on data envelopment analysis (DEA). The results evidence that the external costs of unplanned water supply interruptions impact, on average, 7.9% of the efficiency of water companies. We also explored the impact of a set of environmental variables on water company efficiency.