The privatization of the water industry has aroused interest in comparing the performance of public vs. private water companies. However, little research has been conducted to compare the performances of full private (FPWCs) and concessionary water companies (CWCs). This study estimates and compares the productivity growth and its drivers (efficiency, technical and scale change) for a sample of Chilean FPWCs and CWCs over the 2007–2015 period using the input distance function. Both types of water companies showed deteriorations in productivity growth, with CWCs exhibiting higher rates of negative productivity growth than FPWCs. For FPWCs, any gains in efficiency and scale were outstripped by negative technical change. CWCs did not improve their performance in any of the three components of productivity change. The comparison of productivity change between FPWCs and CWCs is essential to support decision-making therefore, this study is of great interest for policymakers worldwide who are developing policies aimed at privatizing water companies.

自来水公司的私有化引起了人们对公共和私人自来水公司业绩比较的兴趣。但是，几乎没有进行研究来比较完全私人公司（FPWC）和特许自来水公司（CWC）的业绩。这项研究使用输入距离函数估算并比较了2007–2015年期间智利FPWC和CWC的样本的生产率增长及其驱动力（效率，技术和规模变​​化）。两种类型的自来水公司均显示出生产率增长的恶化，其中CWC的负生产率增长率高于FPWC。对于FPWC，负面的技术变化超出了效率和规模上的任何增长。CWC在生产力变化的三个要素中的任何一个方面都没有提高绩效。