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Regulated price reforms and unregulated substitutes: the case of residential piped gas in Argentina

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  • Ariel Casarin

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of regulated piped gas price changes on connection decisions and households’ welfare. The analysis explicitly considers bottled gas as a substitute for piped gas and therefore uses a simple utility maximization model that yields both a gas-type choice model and a demand specification whose parameterization allows examining households’ responses to regulated price changes. The results show that relative gas prices and household features explain households’ piped gas usage. They also provide insights on the distribution of welfare changes. The findings illustrate the impact of tariff rebalancing and unregulated substitutes on further access to regulated network services. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

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  • Ariel Casarin, 2014. "Regulated price reforms and unregulated substitutes: the case of residential piped gas in Argentina," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 34-56, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:regeco:v:45:y:2014:i:1:p:34-56
    DOI: 10.1007/s11149-013-9228-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Hancevic, Pedro & Cont, Walter & Navajas, Fernando, 2016. "Energy populism and household welfare," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 464-474.
    2. Aina, Ifedotun Victor & Thiam, Djiby Racine & Dinar, Ariel, 2023. "Substitution of piped water and self-supplied groundwater: The case of residential water in South Africa," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Utility service diffusion; Consumer behavior; Tariff rebalancing; Gas industry; D12; L11; C51; L95;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation
    • L95 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Gas Utilities; Pipelines; Water Utilities

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