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Consumers’ Attitudes on Services of General Interest in the EU: Accessibility, Price and Quality 2000-2004

Author

Listed:
  • Carlo Fiorio

    (University of Milan)

  • M. Florio

    (University of Milan)

  • S. Salini

    (University of Milan)

  • P. Ferrari

    (University of Milan)

Abstract

The research question addressed by this paper is a simple one: are European consumers happy with the services provided by the utilities after two decades of reforms? We focus on electricity, gas, water, telephone in the EU 15 Member States. The variables we analyse are consumers’ satisfaction with accessibility, price and quality, as reported in three waves of Eurobarometer survey, 2000-2002-2004, comprising around 47,000 observations. We use ordered logit models to analyze the impact of privatization and regulatory reforms, as represented by an OECD dataset, controlling for individual and country characteristics. Our results do not support a clear association between consumers’ satisfaction and a standard reform package of privatization, vertical disintegration, liberalization.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlo Fiorio & M. Florio & S. Salini & P. Ferrari, 2007. "Consumers’ Attitudes on Services of General Interest in the EU: Accessibility, Price and Quality 2000-2004," Working Papers 2007.2, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    • Handle: RePEc:fem:femwpa:2007.2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Banks, James & Blundell, Richard & Lewbel, Arthur, 1996. "Tax Reform and Welfare Measurement: Do We Need Demand System Estimation?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(438), pages 1227-1241, September.
    2. Bruno S. Frey, 2018. "Economics of Happiness," SpringerBriefs in Economics, Springer, number 978-3-319-75807-7, October.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Massimo Florio, 2006. "The Great Divestiture: Evaluating the Welfare Impact of the British Privatizations, 1979-1997," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262562227, December.
    6. Bernardo Bortolotti & Paolo Pinotti, 2003. "The Political Economy of Privatization," Working Papers 2003.45, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    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. P. A. Ferrari & S. Salini, 2008. "Measuring Service Quality: The Opinion of Europeans about Utilities," Working Papers 2008.36, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    3. 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.
    4. Ugur, Mehmet, 2009. "Liberalisation in a world of second best: evidence on European network industries," MPRA Paper 17873, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 13 Oct 2009.
    5. 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.
    6. Giancarlo MANZI & Pier Alda FERRARI, "undated". "Statistical methods for evaluating satisfaction with public services Abstract: Contrary to private enterprises, public enterprises can be unaware of the impact of their performance when providing serv," CIRIEC Working Papers 1404, CIRIEC - Université de Liège.
    7. Pier Ferrari & Paola Annoni & Giancarlo Manzi, 2010. "Evaluation and comparison of European countries: public opinion on services," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 44(6), pages 1191-1205, October.
    8. Silvia SALINI & Ron S. KENETT, 2007. "Bayesian networks of customer satisfaction survey data," Departmental Working Papers 2007-33, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    9. Pier Ferrari & Laura Pagani & Carlo Fiorio, 2011. "A Two-Step Approach to Analyze Satisfaction Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 104(3), pages 545-554, December.
    10. Pier Ferrari & Silvia Salini, 2011. "Complementary Use of Rasch Models and Nonlinear Principal Components Analysis in the Assessment of the Opinion of Europeans About Utilities," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 28(1), pages 53-69, April.
    11. 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.
    12. Manto LAMPROPOULOU, 2018. "State‐Owned Enterprises In Greece: The Evolution Of A Paradigm 1996–2016," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(3), pages 491-526, September.
    13. 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.
    14. 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.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumers’ Satisfaction; Gas; Electricity; Telephone; Water; Eurobarometer;
    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

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