RISULTATI RICERCA

Water is a public essential good subject to competitive uses and demands. Though the exigency to provide the service independently from consumer’s ability to pay is fundamental as far as supply is concerned, the Italian reform which the water service has undergone starting from the promulgation of national Law n. 36/1994, introduces the industrial organization of water services and the vertical integration of aqueduct systems, sewerage systems and treatment plants. The reform’s aim is to promote and accelerate investments in the water service sector. The reform introduces as well the price cap regulation which guarantees at the same time ex-post full recovery of the service costs and an adequate capital rate of return via the pricing mechanism. The National Committee supervising the use of water resources (co.vi.ri.) has recently made a proposal of revision of the tariff mechanism (Metodo Tariffario Normalizzato) which is still to be accepted by the Government. The paper presents short comment on the objectives the regulator pursues via the pricing mechanism and describes regulatory rules under revision. In particular the analysis focuses on the determination of the baseline tariff: a simulation is performed over the different regulatory parameters starting from the analysis of the ato Bacchiglione case study and the simulation’s results are presented and commented.

During the Nineties, the Italian Local Public Transportation (LPT) Industry has been reformed and the subsidisation mechanism to LPT firms has changed over from costplus to fixed-price regimes. The very aim of the reform was to enhance both service effectiveness and firms efficiency. In this paper we analyse a panel of 42 LPT firms observed during the period 1993- 1999, trying to highlight the productivity changes. In particular, we investigate the effects of different subsidisation mechanism (cost-plus vs. fixed-price) on LPT firms efficiency and productivity using the Data Envelopment Analysis. At first we decompose inefficiency, distinguishing among managerial efficiency, scale efficiency and the inefficiency gap linked to the different type of service (urban, extra-urban and mixed). Then we use the Malmquist Index to take into account for the dynamic effects, clarifying the trend of managerial-, scale-, technological-, and type-specific-efficiency. The results show that the efficiency levels are quite variable. Furthermore, we find that the type of service is likely to affect dynamic efficiency. In particular, it seems that firms providing mixed services (both urban and extra-urban) could reach better dynamic performance in terms of efficiency recovery than those providing only urban or extra-urban service.

We examine the state and structure of public finances in the ten states which joined the European Union in 2004. In terms of budget balances and debt, there are signifi- cant differences among these countries. At one end of the range, public finances in Baltic countries and Slovenia are particularly sound, with deficits below 3% of gdp or surpluses in the last years and very low levels of debt. At the other extreme, there is Hungary, which will need strong political determination in the coming years to respect the conditions for accession to the Euro. Most of the remaining countries were able to bring the deficit at or below the 3% threshold in 2005, but often benefiting from particularly favourable cyclical conditions or from measures with temporary effects. In perspective the ageing of population, particularly accentuated in the ten countries, will burden public finances. To curb the growth of expenditure, most of these states have implemented major reforms, especially of the pension systems, introducing compulsory funded schemes.

The Water Framework Directive (Dir. 2000/60) introduces fundamental innovations in the management of water resources and water policies in Europe. It calls in particular for a substantial integration of economic analysis in the policymaking process, creating the scope for an expansion of economic research to this field. The article discusses the reasons guiding this innovative approach, outlines the scope and the meaning of economic analysis of water policies and discusses the relevance of economic and financial issues for the concept of water sustainability. In particular it emphasizes the need to conceive economic analysis as a circular process that accompanies water policies from the earliest possible stage and not to confine it to the issue of economic pricing and cost-benefit analysis. We outline a possible structure for the performance of economic analysis and the evaluation of economic implications of water policies in Italy and discuss the way it can be coordinated with the existing institutional framework. Finally some insights on the gaps to be filled by economic research are provided.