Evaluation of the effectiveness of the National Benchmarking Initiative (NBI) in improving the productivity of water services authorities in South Africa

Authors

  • Warren Brettenny Department of Statistics, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, 6031
  • Gary Sharp Department of Statistics, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, 6031

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v44i1.05

Keywords:

water service provision, productivity, benchmarking, Malmquist index, DEA

Abstract

Water shortages, public demonstrations and lack of service delivery have plagued many South African water services authorities (WSAs) for a number of years. From 2004–2007 the National Benchmarking Initiative (NBI) was implemented to improve the performance, efficiency and sustainability of WSAs. The current study demonstrates the use of data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist productivity index (MPI) for the assessment of the effectiveness of the NBI in achieving these goals. Furthermore, the MPI is used to assess the impact that the termination of the NBI had on the efficiency of the WSAs in the years that followed. In conclusion, the MPI is identified as a valuable tool for regulators and policy makers that wish to assess the performance of their benchmarking initiatives.

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Published

2018-01-31

How to Cite

Brettenny, W., & Sharp, G. (2018). Evaluation of the effectiveness of the National Benchmarking Initiative (NBI) in improving the productivity of water services authorities in South Africa. Water SA, 44(1 January). https://doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v44i1.05

Issue

Vol. 44 No. 1 January (2018): Water SA

Section

Research paper

License

Creative Commons License

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