IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mil/wpdepa/2008-12.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Do you pay a fair price for electricity? Consumers’ satisfaction and utility reform in the EU

Author

Listed:
  • Carlo Vittorio FIORIO
  • Massimo FLORIO

Abstract

The research question addressed by this paper is a simple one: are European consumers happy with the electricity supply services after two decades of reforms? We focus on self-assessed consumers’ satisfaction with electricity prices as reported in three waves of Eurobarometer survey, 2000-2002-2004, conditioning on some indicators of public ownership, vertical integration and entry regulation across the EU-15. Our results do not support a systematic association between consumers’ satisfaction and the complete reform package made of privatisation, vertical disintegration and liberalisation. These results, which have been extensively tested for robustness, raise various concerns about the way the reform processes have been undertaken and provides some warnings about possible effects on public support for public utility reforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlo Vittorio FIORIO & Massimo FLORIO, 2008. "Do you pay a fair price for electricity? Consumers’ satisfaction and utility reform in the EU," Departmental Working Papers 2008-12, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    • Handle: RePEc:mil:wpdepa:2008-12
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://wp.demm.unimi.it/files/wp/2008/DEMM-2008_012wp.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hattori, Toru & Tsutsui, Miki, 2004. "Economic impact of regulatory reforms in the electricity supply industry: a panel data analysis for OECD countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 823-832, April.
    2. Nils-Henrik M. von der Fehr, Eirik S. Amundsen and Lars Bergman, 2005. "The Nordic Market: Signs of Stress?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Special I), pages 71-98.
    3. Alberto Alesina & Silvia Ardagna & Giuseppe Nicoletti & Fabio Schiantarelli, 2005. "Regulation And Investment," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(4), pages 791-825, June.
    4. Pollitt, Michael, 2009. "Evaluating the evidence on electricity reform: Lessons for the South East Europe (SEE) market," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 13-23, March.
    5. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
    6. Reiner Martin & Moreno Roma & Isabel Vansteenkiste, 2005. "Regulatory reforms in selected EU network industries," Occasional Paper Series 28, European Central Bank.
    7. Pollitt, Michael, 2008. "The arguments for and against ownership unbundling of energy transmission networks," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 704-713, February.
    8. Jamasb, Tooraj & Pollitt, Michael, 2007. "Incentive regulation of electricity distribution networks: Lessons of experience from Britain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 6163-6187, December.
    9. Fiorio, Carlo V. & Florio, M. & Salini, S. & Ferrari, P.A., 2007. "Consumers' Attitudes on Services of General Interest in the EU: Accessibility, Price and Quality 2000-2004," Privatisation Regulation Corporate Governance Working Papers 12195, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    10. Millward,Robert, 2005. "Private and Public Enterprise in Europe," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521835244, November.
    11. Martin, Reiner & Roma, Moreno & Vansteenkiste, Isabel, 2005. "Regulatory reforms in selected EU network industries," Occasional Paper Series 28, European Central Bank.
    12. David M. Newbery & Michael G. Pollitt, 1997. "The Restructuring and Privatisation of Britain's CEGB—Was It Worth It?," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 269-303, September.
    13. Amelia Branczik & Julian A. Lampietti & Sudeshna Ghosh Banerjee, 2007. "People and Power : Electricity Sector Reforms and the Poor in Europe and Central Asia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7175.
    14. Paul Conway & Giuseppe Nicoletti, 2006. "Product Market Regulation in the Non-Manufacturing Sectors of OECD Countries: Measurement and Highlights," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 530, OECD Publishing.
    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. Judith Clifton & Daniel Díaz‐Fuentes & Marcos Fernández‐Gutiérrez & Julio Revuelta, 2011. "Is Market‐Oriented Reform Producing A ‘Two‐Track’ Europe? Evidence From Electricity And Telecommunications," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 82(4), pages 495-513, December.
    2. Judith Clifton & Daniel Díaz-Fuentes & Marcos Fernández-Gutiérrez & Julio Revuelta, 2011. "The new regulation of public infrastructure services in the European Union. Challenges for territorial cohesion," ERSA conference papers ersa11p1416, European Regional Science Association.
    3. Fiorio, Carlo V. & Florio, Massimo & Perucca, Giovanni, 2013. "User satisfaction and the organization of local public transport: Evidence from European cities," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 209-218.
    4. Clifton, Judith & Díaz-Fuentes, Daniel & Fernández Gutiérrez, Marcos & Revuelta, Julio, 2011. "Bringing Citizens Back In: Renewing Public Service Regulation," MPRA Paper 33051, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Clifton, Judith & Díaz-Fuentes, Daniel & Fernández Gutiérrez, Marcos & Revuelta, Julio, 2009. "Infrastructure regulation: what works, why, and how do we know?," MPRA Paper 33038, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Recalde, Martina & Peralta, Andrés & Oliveras, Laura & Tirado-Herrero, Sergio & Borrell, Carme & Palència, Laia & Gotsens, Mercè & Artazcoz, Lucia & Marí-Dell’Olmo, Marc, 2019. "Structural energy poverty vulnerability and excess winter mortality in the European Union: Exploring the association between structural determinants and health," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    7. Simona GRASSI & Riccardo PUGLISI, 2008. "Regulation and consumer satisfaction from public services: an individual fixed effects approach," Departmental Working Papers 2008-21, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.

    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. Fiorio, Carlo V. & Florio, Massimo, 2011. "«Would you say that the price you pay for electricity is fair?» Consumers' satisfaction and utility reforms in the EU15," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 178-187, March.
    2. Marino, Marianna & Parrotta, Pierpaolo & Valletta, Giacomo, 2019. "Electricity (de)regulation and innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 748-758.
    3. Growitsch, Christian & Müller, Gernot & Stronzik, Marcus, 2008. "Ownership Unbundling in der Gaswirtschaft: Theoretische Grundlagen und empirische Evidenz," WIK Discussion Papers 308, WIK Wissenschaftliches Institut für Infrastruktur und Kommunikationsdienste GmbH.
    4. Pollitt, Michael, 2009. "Evaluating the evidence on electricity reform: Lessons for the South East Europe (SEE) market," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 13-23, March.
    5. Erdogdu, Erkan, 2010. "Electricity Market Reform: Lessons for developing countries," MPRA Paper 27317, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Poggi, Ambra & Florio, Massimo, 2010. "Energy deprivation dynamics and regulatory reforms in Europe: Evidence from household panel data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 253-264, January.
    7. Carlo Stagnaro, 2014. "Privatisation in the EU Energy Sector: The Never-Ending Story," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 238-253, June.
    8. Fiorio, Carlo V. & Florio, Massimo, 2013. "Electricity prices and public ownership: Evidence from the EU15 over thirty years," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 222-232.
    9. Nardi, Paolo, 2012. "Transmission network unbundling and grid investments: Evidence from the UCTE countries," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 50-58.
    10. Jamasb, Tooraj & Pollitt, Michael, 2008. "Security of supply and regulation of energy networks," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4584-4589, December.
    11. Erdogdu, Erkan, 2013. "Essays on Electricity Market Reforms: A Cross-Country Applied Approach," MPRA Paper 47139, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Schober, Dominik, 2013. "Static vs. dynamic impacts of unbundling: Electricity markets in South America," ZEW Discussion Papers 13-033, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    13. Bastianin, Andrea & Castelnovo, Paolo & Florio, Massimo, 2018. "Evaluating regulatory reform of network industries: a survey of empirical models based on categorical proxies," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 115-128.
    14. Emanuele BACCHIOCCHI & Massimo FLORIO & Marco GAMBARO, 2008. "Telecom prices, regulatory reforms, and consumers’ satisfaction: evidence for 15 EU countries," Departmental Working Papers 2008-10, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano, revised 20 Jun 2008.
    15. Michael Pollitt, 2021. "Measuring the Impact of Electricity Market Reform in a Chinese Context," Working Papers EPRG2111, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    16. Torriti, Jacopo, 2014. "Privatisation and cross-border electricity trade: From internal market to European Supergrid?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 635-640.
    17. Christian Growitsch & Marcus Stronzik, 2014. "Ownership unbundling of natural gas transmission networks: empirical evidence," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 207-225, October.
    18. Rabindra Nepal & John Foster & Antonio Carvalho, 2014. "Revisiting Electricity Liberalization and Security of Supply: Empirical Evidence," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 7-2014, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    19. Balázs Égert, 2009. "Infrastructure Investment in Network industries: The Role of Incentive Regulation and Regulatory Independence," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 688, OECD Publishing.
    20. Testa, Federico & Stagnaro, Carlo, 2011. "Reti di trasporto nazionale e concorrenza nei mercati del gas: il caso Eni-Snam Rete Gas [Networks and competition in natural gas markets: the case of Eni-Snam Rete Gas]," MPRA Paper 48698, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumers’ satisfaction; electricity; privatisation; vertical disintegration; liberalisation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities
    • L95 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Gas Utilities; Pipelines; Water Utilities
    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications
    • L50 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:mil:wpdepa:2008-12. 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: DEMM Working Papers The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask DEMM Working Papers to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/damilit.html .

    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.