Giulia Romano

• Business Administration
• Professor (Associate) at University of Pisa

Il buono ed il cattivo governo e i loro effetti furono rappresentati da Ambrogio Lorenzetti nel 1338-1339 in un ciclo di affreschi per la Città di Siena. Gli affreschi avevano un evidente fine didascalico: ispirare le decisioni dei governatori cittadini che si riunivano proprio nelle sale decorate dagli affreschi, fornendo un monito continuo a oper...

Ces dernières années, de nombreux pays ont fait l’expérience de la remunicipalisation dans le secteur des services publics, en particulier dans les domaines de la gestion de l’eau et des déchets urbains. En utilisant un modèle à cas multiples, examinant cinq cas de remunicipalisation réussie de la gestion des déchets urbains en Italie, cette étude...

In this study, the effects and costs of adopting a zero-waste (ZW) strategy were evaluated. Using the propensity score matching method and data on Italian municipalities from 2019, our empirical analysis indicates that the separate collection rate was approximately 4% higher and urban unsorted waste was approximately 22–26 kg per capita lower for m...

In recent years, many countries have experienced remunicipalization in the public service sector, especially in the fields of water and urban waste management. Using a multiple-case design, examining five successful urban waste management remunicipalizations in Italy, this study investigates the triggers, key success factors, and results of this pr...

This paper investigates the factors affecting Italian provinces’ separate collection rates from 2007 to 2016, as these rates are relevant environmental performance indicators in urban waste management. We observe data spanning this decade from 103 Italian provinces and use panel data regressions to explore if and how some relevant socio-economic fa...

This study evaluates and compares the dynamic eco-efficiency of municipalities with publicly owned, privately owned, and mixed ownership solid waste utilities by estimating the Meta-frontier Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index for a sample of 68 major Italian towns. On average, the eco-productivity of Italian waste service providers increased b...

Since the previous decade, there has been an increasing awareness regarding the crucial role of waste management efficiency in ensuring health and environmental protection and the transition toward circular economy objectives. This empirical study investigates the efficiencies of urban waste systems in 78 major Italian towns between 2014 and 2018,...

Efficient waste management is crucial for a sustainable future. However, due to population growth and the threat of global climate change, systems of urban waste management are under increasing pressure. For the waste sector, the prospect of transitioning to a circular economy presents an opportunity to promote organizational changes and improve pe...

L’economia circolare rappresenta il paradigma di riferimento per aziende, istituzioni e cittadini europei. Esso si fonda sulla trasformazione del rifiuto da problema in opportunità, al fine di generare circuiti di sviluppo virtuosi basati su prevenzione, riutilizzo e riciclo. Il Consorzio Comieco rappresenta un precursore nell’implementazione del c...

The collection of municipal solid waste (MSW) is a public service with notable effects on the environment and public health. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of selective collection and recycling of MSW on the performance of municipalities in providing MSW services. By employing the data envelopment analysis method, the effici...

With growing environmental legislation and mounting popular concern for the need to pursuing a sustainable growth, there has been an increasing recognition in developed nations of the importance of waste reduction, recycling and reuse maximization. This empirical study investigates both ecological and economic performances of urban waste systems in...

This study analyzes the association between the environmental performance of waste management and occurrences of corruption and maladministration. Italy is considered one of the most corrupt Western European countries; its high corruption levels have been highlighted for decades. In Italy, waste management has frequently garnered interest during cr...

This paper assesses the performance of waste services in the region of Tuscany in Italy. It adopts non-parametric techniques for this purpose. Furthermore, it investigates the influence of the operational environment on the estimated performance by using the robust order-m technique. Meaningful levels of inefficiency were found in the Italian waste...

In response to the call for new studies on the so-called fifth stage of intellectual capital (IC), this study has two main goals. First, it aims to explore how IC affects sustainability in a triple bottom line perspective, namely, the joint and synergic achievement of economic, social, and environmental results in the waste management sector. Secon...

This paper describes a path-dependent regulatory process to define a new water-tariff calculation method for European regions and provinces requiring context-specific regulation. In 2017, South Tyrol, an autonomous province in north Italy, decided to design a new water tariff-setting method. The case of South Tyrol illustrates the application of th...

As water utilities operate as natural monopolists and they provide essential services for human life, their activities are regulated by public authorities. The sustainable use of water resources and a specific attention on social needs should be essential goals for this kind of firms, so that the evaluation of their business should go beyond their...

The efficient provision of municipal solid waste (MSW) services is essential from an economic and environmental perspective. This paper investigates the effect of ownership type on the eco-efficiency of MSW management in Tuscan municipalities. In the first stage of the analysis, the authors use a data envelopment analysis metafrontier approach with...

This paper aims to examine if users perceive a difference in tap water quality supplied by publicly owned or privately owned water operators. More generally, this paper analyses whether and how certain relevant variables affect water quality using customer satisfaction as an indicator of water quality. Since the decision to privatise the service ma...

del volume Fra i modelli di fornitura dei servizi idrici presenti in Europa è possibile includere anche la gestione di comunità, in forma cooperativa o ad essa assimilata, ove i proprietari delle reti e degli impianti sono i cittadini, che hanno dunque la duplice veste di proprietari-gestori e di utenti. Le cooperative idriche e più in generale l...

The workshop aims at stimulating the exchange of ideas among researchers and practitioners that develop or apply water resources and waste management models and approaches for policy identification and assessment. Web site of the workshop: fiw3.unibs.it

The debate about the role of corporations with regard to water also involves the influence that paying returns to shareholders could have on the investment policy of utilities, influencing the development of new infrastructure or the renewal of existing ones. This study investigated the dividend policy of water utilities by analyzing the data of 12...

Using a large 2012–2015 cross-sectional dataset for all 279 municipalities in Tuscany, Italy (the location of the first municipality in Europe to adopt a zero-waste strategy in 2007), this study investigates whether and how municipal waste production and re-cycling activities are related to two waste management policies of municipalities: the adopt...

Knowledge of attitudes towards water conservation, potential reactions to incorporating supplementary costs into water prices, and the willingness to pay for water services is vitally important to decision makers wishing to implement policies that effectively promote more conscious water consumption and mitigate increasingly important water scarcit...

The aim of this Special Issue is to gather evidence on the impact of price policies (PP) and non-price policies (NPP) in shaping residential water use in a context of increased water scarcity. Indeed, a large body of the empirical economic literature on residential water demand has been devoted to measuring the impact of PP (water price increases,...

The spending review carried out by many governments of the member countries of the European Union, which did away with a large part of public subsidies, recognizes that exercising control over operating and capital expenditure is one of the most important means to secure financial resources for public services. This study measures the inefficiency...

The backwardness of the water utilities sector necessitates urgent investment in infrastructure to improve water quality and efficiency in water supply networks. A policy of tariff growth represents the main source to sustain such investments. Therefore, customer engagement in the form of willingness to pay (WTP) is highly desirable by water utilit...

The determinants of the performance of water utilities are a topical issue worldwide. This paper analyzes the relationship between efficiency and corporate governance in Italian water utilities, measured through data envelopment analysis. Using an M-quantile regression model, efficiency estimations are ranked considering relevant governance (board...

This article focuses on the process of contract renegotiation by an Italian wastewater utility, commenced with the goal of tariff revision. The main aim of this paper is to identify the conditions that lead to contract renegotiation. It also develops new tools and operations that can facilitate this process. We utilized the action research method t...

The environmental efficiency of 96 Tuscan (Italian) wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is investigated taking into account the quality of the outgoing water in terms of pollutant. In this regard, the presence of the residual nitrogen in the outgoing treated water is considered as undesirable output. The efficiency analysis is performed by applying...

The relevance of wastewater treatment service has increased in recent years, since it has a significant impact on the natural environment. A treatment plant facilitates energy generation, the recovery of products from waste, and the reuse of wastewater for industrial and irrigation purposes. An indirect environmental effect is the high energy consu...

In this study, 139 Tuscan Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) were analyzed with the aim of evaluating their efficiency and highlighting the main efficiency drivers, as well as distinguishing among wastewater features, WWTP technology, other features of WWTPs, output variables, and sludge disposal. From a methodological point of view, the proposed...

In Italy’s water industry, publicly owned utilities (PWCs) coexist with public-private partnerships (PPPWCs), that could contribute expertise for operations, funds, and relationships. This paper examines the effect of ownership structures on efficiency by comparing Veneto (with almost all PWCs) and Tuscany (with almost all PPPWCs). This comparison...

Municipal solid waste collection is a public service with an impact on the environment, public health, and the appearance of a municipal area. The standard of efficiency achieved in providing this service has a direct impact on household expenditure, since the costs of collection are recovered through citizens' taxes. The failure to consider releva...

Wastewater treatment is an important link in the water cycle that allows for water sanitation and reuse, facilitates energy generation, and allows for the recovery of products from waste. The scientific community has paid significant attention to wastewater treatment, especially from a technical point of view. Extensive literature is available on n...

This study investigates the determinants of efficiency in an Italian regional health system and estimates the effect exerted by ownership on hospitals’ performance. To achieve this aim, the Veneto region was considered as a case study and a full dataset (2011–2012) containing nonpublicly available technical data and cost and income items was analyz...

In European countries, wastewater treatment service is often provided by utilities, which have to comply with environmental laws and, at the same time, control costs in order to restrain tariff growth. By applying a conditional order-m efficiency method, this study provides some insights to the operational variables affecting the efficiency of 137...

This paper investigated factors affecting household water consumption in major Italian towns. Specifically, water demand in 103 Italian towns was analyzed over a five-year period (i.e., 2007 to 2011). Data was collected from each towns on the potential determinants of water consumption, including tariffs, income per capita, weather conditions and g...

Efficiency improvement is one of three patterns a public utility should follow in order to get funds for investments realization. The other two are recourse to bank loans or to private equity and tariff increase. Efficiency can be improved, for example, by growth and vertical integration and may be conditioned by environmental variables, such as cu...

Efficient water management is a priority in the European Union, since the operational efficiency of many water utilities is very low compared to best practice. Several countries are restructuring the water industry to save costs. Larger-scale operations and vertical integration are promoted to achieve scale and scope economies; however, the literat...

In Italy recently the regulatory authority for electricity, gas and the water industry was mandated to design a new tariff method more consistent with EU standards of ‘full cost recovery’ and the ‘polluter pays’ rules. This paper attempts to highlight the strengths and limitations of this new method, its actual effects on tariffs, financial plans a...

Like other public services (water, energy and gas), Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) has been studied to observe the determinants of cost variations among environmental and operational variables. The current paper studies the determinants of efficiency in waste collection, observing 40 municipalities in the north-west of Verona province. Economic effici...

This article analyses the effects of ownership, board size and composition on the performance of 72 Italian water utilities. Information about the utilities’ 335 directors was collected. Our main findings indicate that private or mixed-ownership utilities show higher profitability than entirely publicly-owned firms, even if the latter are less debt...

Owing to the growing importance of efficient water management, it has become crucial to understand water utilities' characteristics and the environmental factors affecting water pricing, so as to provide guidance to policy-makers. The analysis of factors influencing water tariffs is a challenging task in a context in which companies providing the s...

The present paper analyzes the linkage between the corporate governance of Italian water utilities (ownership, board size and board composition) and their efficiency measured through data envelopment analysis (DEA). Using a general panel data regression model, we found that board size negatively affects the efficiency of water utilities. Moreover,...

The present paper investigates the factors affecting water utility companies’ decision to implement public information campaigns aimed at promoting sustainable water use and reducing household water consumption. We have analyzed 114 Italian water utility companies. For each we hand-collected data regarding their suggestions for reducing household w...

The aim of this study was to estimate the determinants of residential water demand for chief towns of every Italian province in the period 2007–2009 using the linear mixed-effects model estimated with the restricted-maximum-likelihood method. Results confirmed that the applied tariff had a negative effect on residential water consumption and that i...

Sustainable development is a core objective of the EU, whose Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) is based on the idea that water management needs to take account of economic, ecological, and social issues and that its prime objective is the sustainable use and management of water resources.

Over the last 25 years, the governance of public services has undergone important reforms in many countries. During the 1990s, efforts to reform the corporate entities established to pursue public policy and commercial objectives wholly owned either by the state or local governments (state-owned enterprises, or SOEs) were aimed at promoting privati...

Decrying inadequate sewage treatment, high water losses, service interruptions, and nonpotable water, Istat (2012), FederUtility (2013), and AEEG (2013) have denounced the water service infrastructures state of emergency that has a single cause and a common solution: investments.

The Italian Integrated Water Supply system presents a very complex landscape. Italy’s water main and wastewater treatment plant network is very heterogeneous. Best practices exist, where entire areas are fully served by drinking water flowing directly to their homes all day, but there are other areas where the water flows from the tap only a few da...

This book describes the water sector as it is structured in Italy. The first part describes the legal framework which rules the sector in Italy, its evolution since the last 20 years, and its weaknesses. The second part describes the governance of Italian water utilities, distinguishing full public-owned companies from public-private partnership an...

Il presente lavoro misura l’efficienza delle strutture della rete ospedaliera pubblica del Veneto con il metodo Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) e individua quali variabili operative e ambientali sono in grado di condizionarne l’andamento. Rispetto alla letteratura esistente, questo studio empirico permette di indagare in profondità le determinanti...

This article answers two key research questions, namely, if and how a firm's IC efficiency directly affects current and future financial performance. The analysis includes 218 publicly listed Italian companies and their annual reports from 2008 to 2010. In line with previous studies, the authors measure IC capital using an existing model, which rel...

Public utilities could improve their efficiency by pursuing specific strategies, such as growth, diversification of investments, or serving mainly high densely areas. For example, in the water sector, economies of scope and scale both appear possible, but extant literature does not offer clear or consensual findings. To address this lack of clarity...

Public utilities could improve their efficiency by pursuing specific strategies, such as growth, diversification of investments, or serving mainly high densely areas. For example, in the water sector, economies of scope and scale both appear possible, but extant literature does not offer clear or consensual findings. To address this lack of clarity...

The present paper investigates the factors affecting water utility companies’ willingness to implement public information campaigns aimed at promoting sustainable water use and reducing household water consumption. We have analyzed 114 Italian water utility companies. For each we hand-collected data regarding their suggestions for reducing househol...

Nowadays, the efficient management of water has become the focus of vast debate, both in the academic literature and in the practical and regulatory field. Due to the growing importance and scarcity of water resources, it has become crucial to better understand how to improve the organizational efficiency of water utilities. By adopting an accounti...

The Italian water sector has undergone profound change since 2006, when a revised governance framework and new tariff models became law; further innovations were introduced after a national referendum in June 2011. This paper discusses the process of tariff setting in Italy in the light of reforms since 2006; a qualitative case study approach is us...

A water pricing policy (WPP) should accomplish many purposes. Due to the growing importance of efficient water management, it has become crucial to understand the endogenous and environmental factors affecting water pricing, so as to provide guidance to policy makers in defining a suitable water management framework and in entrusting the service to...

The paper analyzes the interaction between corporate governance and performance in the Italian banking groups during the period 2006�2010. Using the fixed effect model on a panel dataset, we test seven hypothesis concerning board size, board composition, existence of board committees, control and risk (audit) committee size and members hip, board r...

All over the world, governments are compelling water utilities to improve their efficiency and productivity through reforms and tougher regulatory tools. Despite the different strategies and approaches, the goals remain the same: to make the whole sector more efficient, to curb the profits and 'quiet life' of water utilities and pass the productivi...

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine whether there is a relation between corporate governance and the publication of corporate accounts that fail to comply with legal and regulatory provisions governing their preparation. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyses all the Italian listed companies that from 2002 to 2010 were subject...

L’oggetto di indagine del presente lavoro è costituito dal sistema dei controlli sull’informativa contabile diffusa dalle società quotate, con particolare riferimento al bilancio di esercizio e consolidato. Attraverso l’analisi dei casi in cui la Consob ha esercitato il potere di impugnativa sui bilanci, gli Autori effettuano un’indagine sull’effic...

This study provides an analysis of Italian water utilities to determine the effects on their efficiency of certain relevant variables that have been broadly discussed in the existing literature. We reviewed the annual financial statements of 43 Italian water utility companies and obtained other technical data from Co.n.vi.r.i., the Italian national...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to carry out an analysis of Italian water utility companies to determine whether their performance was related to certain relevant variables that have been broadly discussed in the existing literature. Among these are ownership structure, size and diversification. In addition, the paper considers another variabl...

A great deal of studies have been carried out so far to explore the impacts of private equity or venture capital (VC) investors on their portfolio companies. Most of them focus on corporate governance, management composition and skills, competences, and performance. A lesser amount of studies have been conducted on how VC investments interact with...

The success of a firm is usually characterized by a constant re-thinking of its strategic model. Considerable entrepreneurial tension is involved in achieving competitive excellence, and the achievement of a right balance between the different elements that form a corporate strategy (e.g. economic perspective and social acceptability) (Coda, 1988).

This study aim to: (1) monitor the evolution of corporate governance practices in Italian listed companies from 2003 to 2005; (2) evaluate the formal and substantial compliance to the Corporate Governance Code; (3) define if listing segment/market (and consequently also capitalization) is significantly related with the adoption of best practices. T...

In the present paper we argue that discipline and enthusiasm (or commitment) are two basic drivers of CSR within an organization. This distinction aims to capture “how” CSR is actually promoted and spread within an organization, while scholars seem to place greater attention on the “why”, that is the reasons for CSR. We explore this issue with the...