IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v170y2020ics0921800919304239.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimal water pricing: Accounting for environmental externalities

Author

Listed:
  • Tsur, Yacov

Abstract

A pricing-based mechanism that implements the optimal water policy while accounting for environmental externalities is developed. The analysis is presented in the context of a comprehensive water economy, stressing the tradeoffs between water use in the provision of ecosystem services vs. other uses. A distinction is made between conveyed and instream environmental water, which turns out to have important policy implications. It is shown that the allocation of instream water can be implemented by properly incorporating the (marginal) instream value of water within the shadow (in situ) price of natural water. The regulation of conveyed environmental water requires a quota-price combination. An example based on Israel's water economy is presented.

Suggested Citation

  • Tsur, Yacov, 2020. "Optimal water pricing: Accounting for environmental externalities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:170:y:2020:i:c:s0921800919304239
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106429
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800919304239
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106429?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. Tsur, Yacov & Dinar, Ariel, 1997. "The Relative Efficiency and Implementation Costs of Alternative Methods for Pricing Irrigation Water," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 11(2), pages 243-262, May.
    2. Richard E. Just & David Zilberman & Eithan Hochman, 1983. "Estimation of Multicrop Production Functions," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(4), pages 770-780.
    3. A Fleischer & Y Tsur, 2000. "Measuring the recreational value of agricultural landscape," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 27(3), pages 385-398, September.
    4. Aliza Fleischer & Yacov Tsur, 2009. "The Amenity Value of Agricultural Landscape and Rural–Urban Land Allocation," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 132-153, February.
    5. Fleischer, Aliza & Felsenstein, Daniel & Lichter, Michal, 2018. "A Spatially Accurate Method for Evaluating Distributional Effects of Ecosystem Services," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 451-460.
    6. Baerenklau, Kenneth A. & Schwabe, Kurt & Dinar, Ariel, 2014. "Do Increasing Block Rate Water Budgets Reduce Residential Water Demand? A Case Study in Southern California," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170019, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. Richard E. Howitt, 1995. "Positive Mathematical Programming," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 77(2), pages 329-342.
    8. Weber, Matthew A. & Meixner, Thomas & Stromberg, Juliet C., 2016. "Valuing instream-related services of wastewater," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(PA), pages 59-71.
    9. Kenneth A. Baerenklau & Kurt A. Schwabe & Ariel Dinar, 2014. "The Residential Water Demand Effect of Increasing Block Rate Water Budgets," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 90(4), pages 683-699.
    10. Olmstead, Sheila M. & Michael Hanemann, W. & Stavins, Robert N., 2007. "Water demand under alternative price structures," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 181-198, September.
    11. B. Kelsey Jack & Seema Jayachandran, 2019. "Self-selection into payments for ecosystem services programs," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(12), pages 5326-5333, March.
    12. Yacov Tsur, 2009. "On the Economics of Water Allocation and Pricing," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 513-536, September.
    13. Spence, A Michael & Starrett, David, 1975. "Most Rapid Approach Paths in Accumulation Problems," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 16(2), pages 388-403, June.
    14. Aliza Fleischer & Yacov Tsur, 2003. "Measuring the Recreational Value of Open Space," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 269-283, July.
    15. Mundlak, Yair, 2001. "Production and supply," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: B. L. Gardner & G. C. Rausser (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 1, pages 3-85, Elsevier.
    16. Tsur, Yacov & Zemel, Amos, 2014. "Steady-state properties in a class of dynamic models," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 165-177.
    17. Mara Thiene & Yacov Tsur, 2013. "Agricultural Landscape Value and Irrigation Water Policy," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(3), pages 641-653, September.
    18. Ian Bateman & Georgina Mace & Carlo Fezzi & Giles Atkinson & Kerry Turner, 2011. "Economic Analysis for Ecosystem Service Assessments," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 48(2), pages 177-218, February.
    19. Laura Grant & Christian Langpap, 2019. "Private provision of public goods by environmental groups," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(12), pages 5334-5340, March.
    20. Michael R. Moore & Noel R. Gollehon & Marc B. Carey, 1994. "Multicrop Production Decisions in Western Irrigated Agriculture: The Role of Water Price," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 76(4), pages 859-874.
    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. Qing Zhou & Yali Zhang & Feng Wu, 2022. "Can Water Price Improve Water Productivity? A Water-Economic-Model-Based Study in Heihe River Basin, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.
    2. Mengdi Li & Yaoping Cui & Yaochen Qin & Zhifang Shi & Nan Li & Xiaoyan Liu & Yadi Run & Oliva Gabriel Chubwa, 2021. "Estimating the Impact of Ecological Migrants on the South-to-North Water Diversion in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-16, November.
    3. Bajaj, Akshi & Singh, S.P. & Nayak, Diptimayee, 2023. "Are farmers willing to pay for groundwater irrigation? Insights from informal groundwater markets in Western Uttar Pradesh, India," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    4. Josef Slaboch & Lukáš Čechura & Michal Malý & Jiří Mach, 2022. "The Shadow Values of Soil Hydrological Properties in the Production Potential of Climatic Regionalization of the Czech Republic," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-21, December.

    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. Yacov Tsur & Amos Zemel, 2017. "Water policy guidelines: A comprehensive approach," Discussion Papers 264871, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Agricultural Economics and Management.
    2. Yerushalmi, Erez, 2018. "Using Water Allocation in Israel as a Proxy for Imputing the Value of Agricultural Amenities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 12-20.
    3. Wichman, Casey J. & Taylor, Laura O. & von Haefen, Roger H., 2016. "Conservation policies: Who responds to price and who responds to prescription?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 114-134.
    4. Daniel A. Brent, 2016. "Estimating Water Demand Elasticity at the Intensive and Extensive Margin," Departmental Working Papers 2016-06, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University.
    5. Liang Lu & David Deller & Morten Hviid, 2019. "Price and Behavioural Signals to Encourage Household Water Conservation: Implications for the UK," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 33(2), pages 475-491, January.
    6. Michael O'Donnell & Robert P. Berrens, 2018. "Understanding Falling Municipal Water Demand in a Small City Dependent on the Declining Ogallala Aquifer: Case Study of Clovis, New Mexico," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 4(04), pages 1-40, October.
    7. Lin, Boqiang & Chen, Xing, 2018. "Is the implementation of the Increasing Block Electricity Prices policy really effective?--- Evidence based on the analysis of synthetic control method," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 734-750.
    8. Zhang, Zibin & Cai, Wenxin & Feng, Xiangzhao, 2017. "How do urban households in China respond to increasing block pricing in electricity? Evidence from a fuzzy regression discontinuity approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 161-172.
    9. Kan, Iddo & Haim, David & Rapaport-Rom, Mickey & Shechter, Mordechai, 2009. "Environmental amenities and optimal agricultural land use: The case of Israel," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1893-1898, April.
    10. Smith, Steven M., 2022. "The effects of individualized water rates on use and equity," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    11. Milan Ščasný & Šarlota Smutná, 2021. "Estimation of price and income elasticity of residential water demand in the Czech Republic over three decades," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 580-608, June.
    12. Brandli Stitzel & Cynthia L. Rogers, 2022. "Residential Water Demand Under Increasing Block Rate Structure: Conservation Conundrum?," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 36(1), pages 203-218, January.
    13. Liang Lu & David Deller & Morten Hviid, 2018. "Price and Behavioural Signals to Encourage Household Water Conservation in Temperate Climates," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) 2018-01, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    14. Mara Thiene & Yacov Tsur, 2013. "Agricultural Landscape Value and Irrigation Water Policy," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(3), pages 641-653, September.
    15. R. Aaron Hrozencik & Dale T. Manning & Jordan F. Suter & Christopher Goemans, 2022. "Impacts of Block‐Rate Energy Pricing on Groundwater Demand in Irrigated Agriculture," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(1), pages 404-427, January.
    16. Hatan, Shachar & Fleischer, Aliza & Tchetchik, Anat, 2021. "Economic valuation of cultural ecosystem services: The case of landscape aesthetics in the agritourism market," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    17. 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.
    18. Carpentier, Alain & Letort, Elodie, 2009. "Modeling acreage decisions within the multinomial Logit framework," Working Papers 211011, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
    19. Kampas, Athanasios & Petsakos, Athanasios & Rozakis, Stelios, 2012. "Price induced irrigation water saving: Unraveling conflicts and synergies between European agricultural and water policies for a Greek Water District," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 28-38.
    20. Msangi, Siwa & Howitt, Richard E., 2006. "Estimating Disaggregate Production Functions: An Application to Northern Mexico," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21080, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Water economy; Regulation; Pricing; Ecosystem services;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • Q25 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Water
    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy

    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:eee:ecolec:v:170:y:2020:i:c:s0921800919304239. 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: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    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.