Author:

Keywords:

Benefit of the doubt, Composite indicator, Environmental pressure indicator, Environmental sustainability, Robust and conditional analysis, Science & Technology, Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Energy & Fuels, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Environmental Sciences & Ecology, SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT, UNDESIRABLE OUTPUTS, EMPIRICAL-ANALYSIS, MANAGEMENT, PRESSURE, EFFICIENCY, SERVICES, BENEFIT, IMPACT, POLICY, 1605 Policy and Administration, Economics, 3801 Applied economics, 4407 Policy and administration, 4408 Political science

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to measure and benchmark the environmental performance of Portuguese utilities jointly active in the three sectors of water supply, wastewater collection and solid waste management. To do so, we suggest the use of a traditional (optimistic) directional distance Benefit of the Doubt index. We complement the analysis by considering also the pessimistic version of the proposed BoD and by implementing a robust and conditional approach. The obtained results show that there is space for improvement in the pressure balance of these utilities, especially for small and very large units, mostly operating in urban areas.