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Household size and residential water demand: an empirical approach

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  • Fernando Arbués
  • Inmaculada Villanúa
  • Ramón Barberán

Abstract

The effectiveness of pricing policies depends on the price elasticity of consumption. It is well documented that residential demand for water is influenced by heterogeneity associated with differences in the size of the household and socioeconomic characteristics. In this paper, we focus on household size. Our initial hypothesis is that users' sensitivity to changes in price is different depending on the number of household members. To this end, we carry out an empirical estimation of urban water demand in Zaragoza (Spain) distinguishing between households with different sizes using data at the individual level. As far as we are aware, this approach to urban residential water demand is new in the literature. The analysis suggests that all households are sensitive to prices regardless of size. A more relevant finding is that small households are more sensitive to price changes. Copyright 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation 2010 Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society Inc. and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

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  • Fernando Arbués & Inmaculada Villanúa & Ramón Barberán, 2010. "Household size and residential water demand: an empirical approach ," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 54(1), pages 61-80, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ajarec:v:54:y:2010:i:1:p:61-80
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1467-8489.2009.00479.x
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    3. Joanne Parker & Robert Wilby, 2013. "Quantifying Household Water Demand: A Review of Theory and Practice in the UK," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(4), pages 981-1011, March.
    4. Tchigriaeva, Elena & Lott, Corey & Kimberly, Rollins, 2014. "Modeling effects of multiple conservation policy instruments and exogenous factors on urban residential water demand through household heterogeneity," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170605, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Tomas Havranek & Zuzana Irsova & Tomas Vlach, 2018. "Measuring the Income Elasticity of Water Demand: The Importance of Publication and Endogeneity Biases," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 94(2), pages 259-283.
    6. Xiaojia Bao, 2016. "Water, Electricity and Weather Variability in Rural Northern China," Working Papers 2014-07-02, Wang Yanan Institute for Studies in Economics (WISE), Xiamen University.
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