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Who pays the most for water? Alternative providers and service costs in Niger

Author

Listed:
  • Elena Bardasi

    (The World Bank)

  • Quentin Wodon

    (The World Bank)

Abstract

Despite water being subsidized in most developing countries, poorer households end up paying more per unit of consumption because they are generally not connected to the network and, as a result, are forced to buy water from public fountains or street vendors at a higher price. In this note we use a unique survey of Niamey households including information on water consumption and expenditure from different sources to estimate unit costs of service provision for water, looking at differences in costs according to both service provider and household poverty status. Our results indicate that the poor pay much higher unit prices for the water they consume than better off households who are connected to the network.

Suggested Citation

  • Elena Bardasi & Quentin Wodon, 2008. "Who pays the most for water? Alternative providers and service costs in Niger," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 9(20), pages 1-10.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-08i30001
    as

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    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/pubs/EB/2008/Volume9/EB-08I30001A.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:9:y:2007:i:4:p:1-7 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Kayaga, Sam & Franceys, Richard, 2007. "Costs of urban utility water connections: Excessive burden to the poor," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 270-277, December.
    3. Aline Coudouel & Anis A. Dani & Stefano Paternostro, 2006. "Poverty and Social Impact Analysis of Reform : Lessons and Examples from Implementation," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7122.
    4. Diego Angel-Urdinola & Quentin Wodon, 2007. "Do Utility Subsidies Reach the Poor? Framework and Evidence for Cape Verde, Sao Tome, and Rwanda," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 9(4), pages 1-7.
    5. Rodney Maddock & Elkin Castano, 1991. "The Welfare Impact of Rising Block Pricing: Electricity in Colombia," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 65-78.
    6. Marianne Fay & Danny Leipziger & Quentin Wodon & Tito Yepes, 2003. "Achieving the Millennium Development Goals : The role of infrastructure," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3163, The World Bank.
    7. Kariuki, Mukami & Schwartz, Jordan, 2005. "Small-scale private service providers of water supply and electricity : a review of incidence, structure, pricing, and operating characteristics," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3727, The World Bank.
    8. AndrÈs GÛmez-Lobo & Dante Contreras, 2003. "Water Subsidy Policies: A Comparison of the Chilean and Colombian Schemes," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 17(3), pages 391-407, December.
    9. Whittington, Dale, 1992. "Possible Adverse Effects of Increasing Block Water Tariffs in Developing Countries," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 75-87, October.
    10. Angel-Urdinola, Diego & Cosgrove-Davies, Malcolm & Wodon, Quentin, 2006. "Rwanda: Electricity Tariff Reform," MPRA Paper 9044, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Antonio Estache & V. Foster & Q. Wodon, 2002. "Accounting for Poverty in Infrastructure Reform: Learning from Latin America's Experience," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/44108, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Infrastructure and Poverty: Part 2 – Are Household Needs Being Met?
      by Rotarian Economist in Rotarian Economist on 2014-11-16 17:00:12

    Citations

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    Cited by:

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    2. Cook, Joseph & Whittington, Dale & Fuente , David & Matichich, Michael, 2019. "A Global Assessment of Non-Tariff Customer Assistance Programs in Water Supply and Sanitation," EfD Discussion Paper 19-4, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.
    3. Whittington, Dale & Nauges, Céline & Fuente, David & Wu, Xun, 2015. "A diagnostic tool for estimating the incidence of subsidies delivered by water utilities in low- and medium-income countries, with illustrative simulations," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 70-81.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • D4 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design

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