Structure des coûts d'alimentation en eau potable : une analyse sur un panel d'unités de production ivoiriennes

This paper analyses the structure of water supply costs in Côte d?Ivoire municipalities using a panel of water utilities. Considering water utilities as multi-output monopolies providing jointly two goods (billed water and lost water), we estimate a multi-output translog cost fonction using duality between production and cost function. We compute several measures of return to reveal that, at the mean level, Ivorian water utilities operate with constant return to scale. But, ranking our production units by size using various criteria, it clearly appears that it is more profitable for the water operator to increase its production and connection in most small and medium utilities. Moreover, the presence of significant economies of scope reveals that the jointly production of the two goods considered in a certain degree is more beneficial than improving the network return. Finally, the estimated marginal cost at the mean is higher than the marginal prices of the first blocks of the tariff system. JEL Classification: C33, D24, Q25.