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The impact of privatization and regulation on the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales: a translog cost function model

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Author Info
David S Saal (Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, UK)
David Parker (Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, UK)

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Abstract

After the ten Regional Water Authorities (RWAs) of England and Wales were privatized in November 1989, the successor Water and Sewerage Companies (WASCs) faced a new regulatory regime that was designed to promote economic efficiency while simultaneously improving drinking water and environmental quality. As legally mandated quality improvements necessitated a costly capital investment programme, the industry's economic regulator, the Office of Water Services (Ofwat), implemented a retail price index (RPI)+K pricing system, which was designed to compensate the WASCs for their capital investment programme while also encouraging gains in economic efficiency. In order to analyse jointly the impact of privatization, as well as the impact of increasingly stringent economic and environmental regulation on the WASCs' economic performance, this paper estimates a translog multiple output cost function model for the period 1985-1999. Given the significant costs associated with water quality improvements, the model is augmented to include the impact of drinking water quality and environmental quality on total costs. The model is then employed to determine the extent of scale and scope economies in the water and sewerage industry, as well as the impact of privatization and economic regulation on economic efficiency. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/mde.988
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Publisher Info
Article provided by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. in its journal Managerial and Decision Economics.

Volume (Year): 21 (2000)
Issue (Month): 6 ()
Pages: 253-268
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Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:21:y:2000:i:6:p:253-268

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Web page: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/7976

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Morana, Claudio & Sawkins, John W, 2000. "Regulatory Uncertainty and Share Price Volatility: The English and Welsh Water Industry's Periodic Price Review," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 87-100, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Sing, Merrile, 1987. "Are Combination Gas and Electric Utilities Multiproduct Natural Monopolies?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(3), pages 392-98, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Melvyn A. Fuss & Leonard Waverman, 1981. "Regulation and the Multiproduct Firm: The Case of Telecommunications in Canada," NBER Chapters, in: Studies in Public Regulation, pages 277-328 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  4. Saal, David S & Parker, David, 2001. "Productivity and Price Performance in the Privatized Water and Sewerage Companies of England and Wales," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 61-90, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Sawkins, John W, 1996. "Balancing Multiple Interests in Regulation: An Event Study of the English and Welsh Water Industry," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 249-68, May.
  6. Narjess Boubakri & Jean-Claude Cosset, 1998. "The Financial and Operating Performance of Newly Privatized Firms: Evidence from Developing Countries," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(3), pages 1081-1110, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Denny, Michael & Pinto, Cheryl, 1978. "An Aggregate Model with Multi-Product Technologies," Histoy of Economic Thought Chapters, in: Fuss, Melvyn & McFadden, Daniel (ed.), Production Economics: A Dual Approach to Theory and Applications, volume 2, chapter 9 McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought. [Downloadable!]
  8. Christensen, Laurits R & Jorgenson, Dale W & Lau, Lawrence J, 1973. "Transcendental Logarithmic Production Frontiers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 55(1), pages 28-45, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Parker, David, 1997. "Price cap regulation, profitability and returns to investors in the UK regulated industries," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 303-315, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Mocan, H Naci, 1995. "Quality-Adjusted Cost Functions for Child-Care Centers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 409-13, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Panzar, John C., 1989. "Technological determinants of firm and industry structure," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 1, pages 3-59 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. NAUGES Céline & VAN DEN BERG Caroline, 2007. "How "natural" are natural monopolies in the water supply and sewerage sector? Case studies from developing and transition economies," Working Papers 07.05.226, LERNA, University of Toulouse. [Downloadable!]
  2. Lawrence Southwick, 2005. "Economies of scale and market power in policing," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(8), pages 461-473. [Downloadable!]
  3. Rita Martins & Adelino Fortunato & Fernando Coelho, 2006. "Cost Structure of the Portuguese Water Industry: a Cubic Cost Function Application," GEMF Working Papers 2006-09, GEMF - Faculdade de Economia, Universidade de Coimbra. [Downloadable!]
  4. Kristof De Witte & Elbert Dijkgraaf, 2007. "Mean and Bold?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-092/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
  5. Céline Nauges & Caroline Berg, 2008. "Economies of density, scale and scope in the water supply and sewerage sector: a study of four developing and transition economies," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 144-163, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Angel Prieto & José L. Zofio & Inmaculada Alvarez, 2009. "Economies of scale, density and scope in public provision of basic local infraestructure," Hacienda Pública Española, IEF, vol. 190(3), pages 59-94, September. [Downloadable!]
  7. Nauges, Celine & van den Berg, Caroline, 2007. "How"natural"are natural monopolies in the water supply and sewerage sector ? Case studies from developing and transition economies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4137, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  8. Chen Lin & Sanford Berg, 2008. "Incorporating Service Quality into Yardstick Regulation: An Application to the Peru Water Sector," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 53-75, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Zhang, Yin-Fang & Kirkpatrick, Colin & Parker, David, 2002. "Electricity Sector Reform in Developing Countries: An Econometric Assessment of the Effects of Privatisation, Competition and Regulation," Centre on Regulation and Competition (CRC) Working papers 30593, University of Manchester, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Rita Martins & Fernando Coelho & Adelino Fortunato, 2008. "Water Losses and Hydrographical Regions Influence on the Cost Structure of the Portuguese Water Industry," GEMF Working Papers 2008-06, GEMF - Faculdade de Economia, Universidade de Coimbra. [Downloadable!]
  11. Francisco González Gómez & Miguel Angel García Rubio, 2008. "Efficiency in the management of urban water services. What have we learned after four decades of research?," Hacienda Pública Española, IEF, vol. 185(2), pages 39-67, July. [Downloadable!]
  12. Fabrizio Erbetta & Martin Cave, 2007. "Regulation and Efficiency Incentives: Evidence from the England and Wales Water and Sewerage Industry," Review of Network Economics, Concept Economics, vol. 6(4), pages 425-452, December. [Downloadable!]
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