After several decades, the political and academic debate on water governance is still dominated by arguments about whether private sector involvement increases both efficiency and the level of investment within the industry. These arguments could appear reductive, especially in a context like Italy, which is dominated by public and mixed-ownership water utilities. The aim of this paper is to analyze how the socio-economic context and stakeholders' interests can influence the relationship between ownership structure and water utilities' sustainability performances. Analyzing six case studies, this research shows that the institutional context may influence both the water governance and utilities’ performance. The theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

几十年后，关于水治理的政治和学术辩论仍然以私营部门的参与是否会提高行业内的效率和投资水平的争论为主。这些论点可能显得过于简化，尤其是在像意大利这样由公共和混合所有制水公用事业公司主导的环境中。本文的目的是分析社会经济背景和利益相关者的利益如何影响所有权结构和水务公司的可持续性绩效之间的关系。本研究通过分析六个案例研究表明，制度背景可能会影响水治理和公用事业的绩效。讨论了理论和管理意义。