Search results for "Water pricing"
showing 6 items of 6 documents
A proposal for the analysis of price escalation within water tariffs: The impact of the Water Framework Directive in Spain
2017
During the last few decades, numerous international organizations have emphasized the role of pricing policy as a tool to achieve objectives of efficiency, environmental sustainability, and cost-recovery in the management of water resources. Incorporating a certain level of price escalation within water tariffs by adopting increasing block rates is commonly advocated as a key element for controlling water demand and fulfilling these objectives. However, despite its widespread use, there exists no established procedure to measure the levels of price escalation embodied in water tariffs. We propose a measure of price escalation within water tariffs at the level of the water supply management…
Electoral opportunism and water pricing with incomplete transfer of control rights
2020
One of the forms of intervention in public services that lie beyond market forces is price control. While such regulation is justified by the need to achieve social goals, empirical evidence has sh...
Does market concentration affect prices in the urban water industry?
2015
This paper analyzes the relationship between market concentration in the private segment of the water industry and water prices with a sample of municipalities located in the Southern Spanish region of Andalusia. In doing so, several Heckman sample selection models are estimated with the main finding being that market concentration increases the price of water for residential use charged by private companies. The main policy recommendation is that urban water service privatization must be accompanied by the appropriate regulatory and institutional frameworks to promote competition among businesses and monitor water pricing.
The Economic Impact of Water Taxes: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis with an International Data Set
2006
Water is scarce in many countries. One instrument to improve the allocation of a scarce resource is (efficient) pricing or taxation. However, water is implicitly traded on international markets, particularly through food and textiles, so that impacts of water taxes cannot be studied in isolation, but require an analysis of international trade implications. We include water as a production factor in a multi-region, multi-sector computable general equilibrium model (GTAP), to assess a series of water tax policies. We find that water taxes reduce water use, and lead to shifts in production, consumption, and international trade patterns. Countries that do not levy water taxes are nonetheless af…
The economic impact of water taxes: a computable general equilibrium analysis with an international data set
2008
Water is scarce in many countries. One instrument for improving the allocation of a scarce resource is (efficient) pricing or taxation. However, water is implicitly traded on international markets, particularly through food and textiles, so that the impacts of water taxes cannot be studied in isolation, but require an analysis of international trade implications. We include water as a production factor in a multi-region, multi-sector computable general equilibrium model (GTAP), to assess a series of water tax policies. We find that water taxes reduce water use and lead to shifts in production, consumption and international trade patterns. Countries that do not levy water taxes are nonethele…
Is the price of water for residential use related to provider ownership? Empirical evidence from Spain
2013
Abstract This paper assesses the relationship between provider ownership and the price of water for residential use set by 386 Southern Spanish municipalities. Our main contribution to the previous literature is that we go much further than merely distinguishing between private and public ownership. First, we find that prices are lower when the urban water service is directly provided by town councils. Second, when water services are contracted out to external companies, the prices set by public utilities are higher than the prices of private utilities due to larger fixed quotas. Finally, water prices are also higher when the provision of the service has been privatised to an institutionali…