The economics literature on urban solid waste collection is scarce, although this type of services has undergone organizational as well as regulatory reforms. This research studies the cost structure of solid waste collection in order to explain why the costs caused by this service vary among municipalities. To do so, first we derive a cost function. We then specify and estimate an explanatory model on a sample of municipalities. Empirical results allow us to study scale economies and the impact on costs of some factors directly related to the service, such as recycling, frequency and location of a landfill in the municipality. In addition to this, we analyse the effects on costs of density, wage levels, peak periods and contracting out.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by Universitat de Barcelona. Espai de Recerca en Economia in its series Working Papers in Economics with number
107.
Length: 32 pages Date of creation: 2003 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:bar:bedcje:2003107
Contact details of provider: Postal: Espai de Recerca en Economia, Facultat de Ciències Econòmiques. Tinent Coronel Valenzuela, Num 1-11 08034 Barcelona. Spain. Web page: http://www.ere.ub.es More information through EDIRC
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Espai de Recerca en Economia).
Related research
Keywords:
Find related papers by JEL classification: Q24 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Land H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Boundaries of Public and Private Enterprise; Privatization; Contracting Out
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: