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Industry Structure Issues in the Water and Wastewater Sectors in Australia
Author(s) -
Abbott Malcolm,
Cohen Bruce
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
economic papers: a journal of applied economics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.245
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1759-3441
pISSN - 0812-0439
DOI - 10.1111/j.1759-3441.2010.00049.x
Subject(s) - wastewater , scope (computer science) , water industry , water sector , business , water supply , productivity , private sector , capital (architecture) , environmental planning , natural resource economics , environmental engineering , environmental science , economics , economic growth , geography , computer science , programming language , archaeology
This paper analyses the diverse range of industry structures operating in the water and wastewater sectors of Australia’s major state capital cities. In particular, it examines this structural diversity in the light of the research findings to date on water and wastewater industry structures, efficiency and productivity, and outlines the range of additional factors that have militated against greater consensus on structural reform in the water and wastewater sectors in major urban areas of Australia. The paper concludes by considering the merits of striving for greater consistency in industry structure given the highly localised nature of urban water supply systems, and by outlining potential areas of future research including the scope for and nature of urban water markets, the optimal separation of regulatory and commercial activities and the potential for private sector participation in the provision of water and wastewater services.