This research analyses the performance of Portuguese metros in the European context. By means of two non-parametric benchmarking techniques, respectively performance indicators and data envelopment analysis, we compute the efficiency of 37 European metros. In order to provide statistical...

The Portuguese government recently launched a new program to refurbish the secondary schools all over the country. Along with this process more responsibilities are being transferred to local governments concerning pre and elementary schools. This is seen as the main motivation for the...

The health care services have been characterised by a growing demand by the citizens leading to the need of more and more resources. Population aging, new pathologies and drugs as well as new treatments are some of the major factors for this. However, in hospitals, for example, consumption of a...

This article analyses the market structure, the privatisation model and the regulation of port operations in Portugal. The regulation of the port sector in Portugal is developed at three levels. The first one regards regulation by contract (first level) which establishes rules (rights and...

<title>Abstract</title> The increase in cargo transportation has not necessarily corresponded to an improvement in the productive efficiency. Quite on the contrary, particular infrastructures are prone to the congestion phenomenon. In this case, after a given value the increase in inputs can lead to a decrease...

A global reform of the Portuguese seaport sector favoured the involvement of the private sector in the provision of port services and the improving of its performance. The regulatory model, the institutional setting and the operations features of the Portuguese seaport sector are briefly...

This paper performs a literature update of quantitative studies of water and sanitation services (WSS). There are 190 studies which use cost or production functions to evaluate the performance of WSS utilities. The studies examine (1) the scale, scope or density economies of utilities in a...

This paper evaluates regulation by contract in public-private partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure services. Although the benefits of competition for the market and of regulatory contracts are widely acknowledged, the literature indentifies several failures in their design. These ‘flaws’...

This paper updates the literature on water utility benchmarking studies carried out worldwide, focusing on scale and scope economies. Using meta-regression analysis, the study investigates which variables from published studies influence these economies. Our analysis led to several conclusions....