IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/juipol/v72y2021ics0957178721001132.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Water systems in California: Ownership, geography, and affordability

Author

Listed:
  • Onda, Kyle S.
  • Tewari, Meenu

Abstract

This study asks whether different types of water systems serve different types of communities and differ with respect to affordability. Using 2017 data for California we match service area boundaries with census income data and rate structures to compare the geography, income distribution and affordability of water rates within communities served by systems of different ownership types. We find that for-profit and publicly owned systems serve communities of similar income distributions, while not-for-profit mutual water companies serve higher-income communities. Regulated privately-owned systems charge more for water while providing more low-income assistance and shutting off fewer households than publicly owned systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Onda, Kyle S. & Tewari, Meenu, 2021. "Water systems in California: Ownership, geography, and affordability," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:72:y:2021:i:c:s0957178721001132
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2021.101279
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957178721001132
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jup.2021.101279?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter T. Robbins, 2003. "Transnational corporations and the discourse of water privatization," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(8), pages 1073-1082.
    2. Randall W. Eberts & Daniel P. McMillen, 1999. "Agglomeration Economies and Urban Public Infrastructure," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Paul Cheshire & Edwin S. Mills (ed.),handbook or Regional and Urban Economics, volume 3, pages 1455-1495, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    3. Bel Germà & Fageda Xavier & E. Mildred, 2014. "Is private production of public services cheaper than public production? A meta-regression analysis of solid waste and water services," Public administration issues, Higher School of Economics, issue 3, pages 103-140.
    4. Pierce, Gregory & Gmoser-Daskalakis, Kyra, 2021. "Multifaceted intra-city water system arrangements in California: Influences and implications for residents," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    5. Sebastian Galiani & Paul Gertler & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2005. "Water for Life: The Impact of the Privatization of Water Services on Child Mortality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(1), pages 83-120, February.
    6. Pierce, Gregory & Chow, Nicholas & DeShazo, J.R., 2020. "The case for state-level drinking water affordability programs: Conceptual and empirical evidence from California," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    7. Isaac W. Wait & William Adam Petrie, 2017. "Comparison of water pricing for publicly and privately owned water utilities in the United States," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(8), pages 967-980, November.
    8. Colin Kirkpatrick & David Parker, 2005. "Domestic Regulation and the WTO: The Case of Water Services in Developing Countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(10), pages 1491-1508, October.
    9. Beecher, Janice A. & Kalmbach, Jason A., 2013. "Structure, regulation, and pricing of water in the United States: A study of the Great Lakes region," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 32-47.
    10. Homsy, George C. & Warner, Mildred E., 2020. "Does public ownership of utilities matter for local government water policies?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Marta Suárez-Varela & Roberto Martínez-Espiñeira, 2018. "A proposal for the analysis of price escalation within water tariffs: The impact of the Water Framework Directive in Spain," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 36(4), pages 726-749, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pierce, Gregory & McBride, Justin & Adams, Jacqueline, 2022. "Subsidized or subsidizing? Municipal drinking water service funds in California," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Martins, Rita & Quintal, Carlota & Teotónio, Carla & Antunes, Micaela, 2023. "Water affordability across and within European countries: a microdata analysis," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. repec:ags:aaea22:335903 is not listed on IDEAS

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Xue & Rivas, Marcela Gonzalez & Grant, Mary & Warner, Mildred E., 2021. "Water Pricing and Affordability in the US: Public vs Private Ownership," SocArXiv 7mc4r, Center for Open Science.
    2. Homsy, George C. & Warner, Mildred E., 2020. "Does public ownership of utilities matter for local government water policies?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Hanna, Thomas M. & McDonald, David A., 2021. "From pragmatic to politicized? The future of water remunicipalization in the United States," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    4. Pierce, Gregory & Gmoser-Daskalakis, Kyra, 2021. "Multifaceted intra-city water system arrangements in California: Influences and implications for residents," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    5. Brandon Cunningham & Jacob LaRiviere & Casey J. Wichman, 2021. "Clustered into control: Heterogeneous causal impacts of water infrastructure failure," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 59(3), pages 1417-1439, July.
    6. Rivas, Marcela González & Schroering, Caitlin, 2021. "Pittsburgh's translocal social movement: A case of the new public water," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    7. George R.G. Clarke & Katrina Kosec & Scott Wallsten, 2009. "Has private participation in water and sewerage improved coverage? Empirical evidence from Latin America," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(3), pages 327-361.
    8. Bel, Germà, 2020. "Public versus private water delivery, remunicipalization and water tariffs," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    9. Wang, Hongwei & Wu, Wenqing & Zheng, Shilin, 2011. "An econometric analysis of private sector participation in China’s urban water supply," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 134-141.
    10. Daniel Albalate & Germà Bel & R. Richard Geddes, 2012. "“Recovery Risk and Labor Costs in Public-Private-Partnerships: Contractual Choice in the U.S. Water industry”," IREA Working Papers 201222, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Dec 2012.
    11. Norbert Brunner & Vijay Mishra & Ponnusamy Sakthivel & Markus Starkl & Christof Tschohl, 2015. "The Human Right to Water in Law and Implementation," Laws, MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-59, August.
    12. D'Amore, Gabriella & Landriani, Loris & Lepore, Luigi, 2021. "Ownership and sustainability of Italian water utilities: The stakeholder role," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    13. Philippe Marin, 2009. "Public-Private Partnerships for Urban Water Utilities : A Review of Experiences in Developing Countries," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2703.
    14. Marta Suárez-Varela & María los Ángeles García-Valiñas & Francisco González-Gómez & Andrés J Picazo-Tadeo, 2017. "Ownership and Performance in Water Services Revisited: Does Private Management Really Outperform Public?," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(8), pages 2355-2373, June.
    15. Warner, Mildred E. & Zhang, Xue & Rivas, Marcela González, 2020. "Which states and cities protect residents from water shutoffs in the COVID-19 pandemic?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    16. Frank R. Lichtenberg, 2014. "Has Medical Innovation Reduced Cancer Mortality?," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 60(1), pages 135-177.
    17. Brian Dill, 2010. "Public-public partnerships in Urban water provision: The case of Dar es Salaam," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(5), pages 611-624.
    18. Melo, Patricia C. & Graham, Daniel J. & Noland, Robert B., 2009. "A meta-analysis of estimates of urban agglomeration economies," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 332-342, May.
    19. Matthias Finger & Rolf W. Künneke (ed.), 2011. "International Handbook of Network Industries," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12961.
    20. Jean Beuve & Marian W. Moszoro & Stéphane Saussier, 2019. "Political contestability and public contract rigidity: An analysis of procurement contracts," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 316-335, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:72:y:2021:i:c:s0957178721001132. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/utilities-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.