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Water Losses and Hydrographical Regions Influence on the Cost Structure of the Portuguese Water Industry

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Author Info
Rita Martins () (Faculty of Economics,University of Coimbra)
Fernando Coelho
Adelino Fortunato () (Faculty of Economics and GEMF,University of Coimbra)

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Abstract

There is a consensus that the emphasis on the management of water resources should be put on demand side policies. However, some questions remain to be solved on the supply side, which are frequently absent from empirical studies based on the estimation of cost functions. This paper aims to fill to some extent this gap in the literature by focusing the consequences of water losses reduction and the management of water resources based on their availability at an integrated river basin level. Major findings indicate that it would be better in terms of costs to maintain some level of water losses than to repair the leaks and suggest advantages from more concentration in the Portuguese water industry. In addition, the costs do not seem to be systematically influenced by the hydrographical regions to which water utilities belong, what might be due to the absence of appropriate cost accounting methods.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by GEMF - Faculdade de Economia, Universidade de Coimbra in its series GEMF Working Papers with number 2008-06.

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Length: 35 pages
Date of creation: Sep 2008
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Handle: RePEc:gmf:wpaper:2008-06

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Related research
Keywords: water utilities; water losses; river basins; multi-product cost function;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
L95 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Gas Utilities; Pipelines; Water Utilities
Q25 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Water

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References listed on IDEAS
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.:
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Cited by:
(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. Monteiro, Henrique, 2008. "Evolution of cost recovery levels in the Portuguese water supply and wastewater industry 1998-2005," MPRA Paper 11490, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
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