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A Two-Phase Method to Assess the Sustainability of Water Companies

Author

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  • Fátima Pérez

    (Departamento de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Málaga, 29016 Málaga, Spain)

  • Laura Delgado-Antequera

    (Departamento de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Málaga, 29016 Málaga, Spain)

  • Trinidad Gómez

    (Departamento de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Málaga, 29016 Málaga, Spain)

Abstract

Composite indicators are becoming more relevant for evaluating the performance of water companies from a holistic perspective. Some of them are related with economic aspects, and others focus on social and environmental features. Consequently, a multidimensional evaluation is necessary for handling the great amount of information provided by multiple single indicators of a different nature. This paper presents a two-phase approach to evaluate the sustainability of water companies. First, a partial composite indicator for each dimension (social, environmental, economic) is obtained using multi-criteria decision making (MCDM). Then, a global indicator is obtained, in terms of the values reached in the previous stage for every partial indicator, by means an optimization problem rooted in data envelopment analysis (DEA). Our proposal offers the possibility of analyzing the performance of each water company under each dimension that characterizes the concept of sustainability, as well as a joint assessment including all the dimensions, facilitating the decision-making process. We apply it to evaluate the sustainability of 163 Portuguese water companies. The results show the strengths and weaknesses of each unit and serve as a guideline to decision-makers on the aspects for improving the performance of water utilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Fátima Pérez & Laura Delgado-Antequera & Trinidad Gómez, 2019. "A Two-Phase Method to Assess the Sustainability of Water Companies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-19, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:13:p:2638-:d:246983
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    1. Vilarinho, Hermilio & D’Inverno, Giovanna & Nóvoa, Henriqueta & Camanho, Ana S., 2023. "The measurement of asset management performance of water companies," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    2. Mergoni, Anna & D'Inverno, Giovanna & Carosi, Laura, 2022. "A composite indicator for measuring the environmental performance of water, wastewater, and solid waste utilities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    3. Vilarinho, Hermilio & D’Inverno, Giovanna & Nóvoa, Henriqueta & Camanho, Ana S., 2023. "Performance analytics for regulation in retail water utilities: Guiding asset management by identifying peers and targets," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    4. José Antonio, Palomero-González & Vicent, Almenar-Llongo & Ramón, Fuentes-Pascual, 2022. "A composite indicator index as a proxy for measuring the quality of water supply as perceived by users for urban water services," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    5. D’Inverno, Giovanna & Carosi, Laura & Romano, Giulia, 2021. "Environmental sustainability and service quality beyond economic and financial indicators: A performance evaluation of Italian water utilities," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    6. Ramon Sala-Garrido & Manuel Mocholí-Arce & María Molinos-Senante, 2021. "Assessing the Quality of Service of Water Companies: a ‘Benefit of the Doubt’ Composite Indicator," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 371-387, May.

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