Abstract
A área de conhecimento associada à gestão de ativos potencia a extração de valor de ativos físicos, incorporando uma abordagem integrada que envolve riscos, custos e desempenho. Este trabalho propõe uma nova abordagem para selecionar projetos de investimento em infraestruturas no âmbito da gestão de ativos. A métrica padrão utilizada para a seleção de projetos em ativos múltiplos é o Índice de Valor de Infraestruturas (IVI), que tem sido utilizado para caracterizar ativos do setor de águas em diversos países. Este trabalho desenvolveu dois modelos de programação linear inteira mista. O primeiro modelo de otimização trata de um problema de alocação de orçamento de capital selecionando projetos de investimento com vista à maximização da condição dos ativos. O segundo modelo de otimização trata de um problema de planeamento de orçamento, visando minimizar o capital necessário para manter os ativos nas condições desejadas. A aplicação dos modelos é ilustrada por um estudo de caso de uma empresa que opera no setor da água em Portugal. Os resultados obtidos nos diferentes cenários analisados são discutidos com vista a apoiar o desenho de políticas de gestão de ativos mais eficientes.

Abstract

Abstract
Assessing the evolution of the performance of water supply and sanitation services is essential to monitor progress towards the universalization of water services, as specified by the Sustainable Development Goal 6 of Agenda 2030, adopted by United Nations member countries. Brazil, a developing country with a continental size and geographical diversity, will face significant challenges to achieve this goal. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the evolution of productivity of water supply and sanitation services in Brazilian municipalities in the period 2012–2019. The analysis also explores whether water services’ performance is balanced across the country, with a specific analysis of performance at the macroregion level. From a methodological perspective, this research evaluates productivity change over time using a Malmquist Productivity Index estimated with a metafrontier, satisfying the circularity property. It also develops a pseudo Malmquist index that compares productivity levels across macro-regions. The results revealed a productivity loss of approximately 4% at the national level, with an unequal profile across the macro-regions. The Southeast municipalities stand out for exhibiting, on average, higher productivity levels than the South and Northeast municipalities. © 2022

Abstract

Abstract
This paper proposes an innovative framework based on optimisation techniques that can support decision-making in water services. The proposed models estimate a Best-Practice frontier recurring to a ‘Benefit-of-the-Doubt’ formulation that enables benchmarking performance across decision-making units. We propose an innovative estimation of a pseudo-Malmquist index to compare the performance of groups. The framework’s relevance is illustrated using data of the Brazilian water and sanitation regulator, collected at the municipality level for the year 2019. The groups compared correspond to three Brazilian macro-regions. The results obtained show that the Southeast exhibits the best overall performance. The Northeast has a few municipalities with the best practices at a national level, but this macro-region has significant heterogeneity in performance levels. The South has a more homogeneous performance, but the best-performing municipalities in this macro-region are still far from Brazil’s best practices. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.