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Water Pricing Models: a survey

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Author Info
Henrique Monteiro (Department of Economics & Dinâmia – ISCTE)

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Abstract

This paper surveys water pricing models, highlighting some important results. Efficiency rquires marginal cost pricing. Intra-annual price changes or customer differentiation to reflect differences in marginal costs can enhance efficiency. A marginal cost pricing mechanism may signal the value that consumers attribute to further capacity expansions as the water supply system approaches its capacity limit and marginal cost rises. However, pure marginal cost pricing may not be feasible while respecting a revenue requirement because marginal costs may be higher or lower than average costs. The most common ways of combining efficiency and revenue requirements are through the use of two-part tariffs, adjusting the fixed charge to meet the revenue requirement, or through second-best pricing like Ramsey pricing. It is not evident whether the best scheme is a two-part tariff or some other pricing mechanism. The role of block rate pricing, increasingly more frequent in actual pricing practices, is yet to be fully investigated.

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File URL: http://129.3.20.41/eps/othr/papers/0510/0510002.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by EconWPA in its series Others with number 0510002.

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Length: 16 pages
Date of creation: 13 Oct 2005
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpot:0510002

Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 16. DINÂMIA - Research Centre for Socioeconomic Change Working Paper n. 45
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Web page: http://129.3.20.41

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Related research
Keywords: water pricing models; capacity constraints; scarcity; revenue requirements; second-best pricing; block rate pricing;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
L95 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Gas Utilities; Pipelines; Water Utilities
Q25 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Water

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Barrett, R. & Sinclair, P., 1999. "Water Charges and the Cost of Metering," Discussion Papers 99-05, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.
  2. Ronald H. Coase, 1970. "The Theory of Public Utility Pricing and Its Application," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 1(1), pages 113-128, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Andrés Chambouleyron, 2003. "Optimal Water Metering and Pricing," Industrial Organization 0301013, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  4. Garcia, Serge & Reynaud, Arnaud, 2004. "Estimating the benefits of efficient water pricing in France," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 1-25, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Roseta-Palma, Catarina & Monteiro, Henrique, 2008. "Pricing for Scarcity," MPRA Paper 10384, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  2. Monteiro, Henrique & Roseta-Palma, Catarina, 2007. "Caracterização dos tarifários de abastecimento de água e saneamento em Portugal
    [Portuguese Water Supply and Sewage Tariffs Report]    ," MPRA Paper 4238, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
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