IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/regeco/v39y2009i2p138-147.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Scale economies, technology and technical change in the water industry: Evidence from the English water only sector

Author

Listed:
  • Bottasso, Anna
  • Conti, Maurizio

Abstract

In this paper we estimate a variable cost function to analyze cost economies and technical change in the English water only sector over the 1995-2005 period. We jointly model the impact on costs of output, customer numbers and area size which allows us to consider both the vertical and horizontal (spatial) dimensions of water utilities' operations. Estimates suggest the existence of unexploited economies of output and customer density and small scale economies which appear to be increasing with population density. These findings suggest that moderate cost savings from prudent mergers could be expected; in particular, benefits of merging water utilities might be higher in more densely populated urban areas. Finally, technical change is found to be increasing over the sample period.

Suggested Citation

  • Bottasso, Anna & Conti, Maurizio, 2009. "Scale economies, technology and technical change in the water industry: Evidence from the English water only sector," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 138-147, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:39:y:2009:i:2:p:138-147
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166-0462(08)00070-7
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bhattacharyya, Arunava & Harris, Thomas R. & Narayanan, Rangesan & Raffiee, Kambiz, 1995. "Technical Efficiency Of Rural Water Utilities," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 20(2), pages 1-19, December.
    2. Mark J. Roberts, 1986. "Economies of Density and Size in the Production and Delivery of Electric Power," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 62(4), pages 378-387.
    3. Fumitoshi Mizutani & Takuya Urakami, 2001. "articles: Identifying network density and scale economies for Japanese water supply organizations," Papers in Regional Science, Springer;Regional Science Association International, vol. 80(2), pages 211-230.
    4. Baltagi, Badi H. & Song, Seuck Heun & Koh, Won, 2003. "Testing panel data regression models with spatial error correlation," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 123-150, November.
    5. Antonioli, B. & Filippini, M., 2001. "The use of a variable cost function in the regulation of the Italian water industry," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 10(3-4), pages 181-187.
    6. Bernstein, Jeffrey I & Sappington, David E M, 1999. "Setting the X Factor in Price-Cap Regulation Plans," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 5-25, July.
    7. Beck, Nathaniel & Katz, Jonathan N., 1995. "What To Do (and Not to Do) with Time-Series Cross-Section Data," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 89(3), pages 634-647, September.
    8. David Saal & David Parker & Tom Weyman-Jones, 2007. "Determining the contribution of technical change, efficiency change and scale change to productivity growth in the privatized English and Welsh water and sewerage industry: 1985–2000," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 127-139, October.
    9. Mehdi Farsi & Massimo Filippini & Michael Kuenzle, 2006. "Cost Efficiency in Regional Bus Companies: An Application of Alternative Stochastic Frontier Models," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 40(1), pages 95-118, January.
    10. Youn Kim, H. & Clark, Robert M., 1988. "Economies of scale and scope in water supply," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 479-502, November.
    11. Serge Garcia & Alban Thomas, 2001. "The Structure of Municipal Water Supply Costs: Application to a Panel of French Local Communities," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 5-29, July.
    12. Anjana Bhattacharyya & Arunava Bhattacharyya & Krishna Mitra, 1997. "Decomposition of Technological Change and Factor Bias in Indian Power Sector: An Unbalanced Panel Data Approach," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 35-52, March.
    13. Luc Anselin & Raymond J. G. M. Florax & Sergio J. Rey, 2004. "Econometrics for Spatial Models: Recent Advances," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Luc Anselin & Raymond J. G. M. Florax & Sergio J. Rey (ed.), Advances in Spatial Econometrics, chapter 1, pages 1-25, Springer.
    14. Baltagi, Badi H & Griffin, James M & Rich, Daniel P, 1995. "The Measurement of Firm-Specific Indexes of Technical Change," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 77(4), pages 654-663, November.
    15. Caves, Douglas W & Christensen, Laurits R & Diewert, W Erwin, 1982. "Multilateral Comparisons of Output, Input, and Productivity Using Superlative Index Numbers," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 92(365), pages 73-86, March.
    16. Massimo Filippini & Cornelia Luchsinger, 2007. "Economies of scale in the Swiss hydropower sector," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(15), pages 1109-1113.
    17. Torres, Marcelo & Morrison Paul, Catherine J., 2006. "Driving forces for consolidation or fragmentation of the US water utility industry: A cost function approach with endogenous output," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 104-120, January.
    18. Caves, Douglas W & Christensen, Laurits R & Swanson, Joseph A, 1981. "Productivity Growth, Scale Economies, and Capacity Utilization in U.S. Railroads, 1955-74," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(5), pages 994-1002, December.
    19. Mehdi Farsi & Aurelio Fetz & Massimo Filippini, 2007. "Economies of Scale and Scope in Local Public Transportation," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 41(3), pages 345-361, September.
    20. Kelejian, Harry H. & Robinson, Dennis P., 1992. "Spatial autocorrelation : A new computationally simple test with an application to per capita county police expenditures," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 317-331, September.
    21. Carlo Cambini & Massimiliano Piacenza & Davide Vannoni, 2007. "Restructuring Public Transit Systems: Evidence on Cost Properties from Medium and Large-Sized Companies," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 31(3), pages 183-203, November.
    22. Paola Fabbri & Giovanni Fraquelli, 2000. "Costs and Structure of Technology in the Italian Water Industry," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 27(1), pages 65-82, March.
    23. Anna Bottasso & Maurizio Conti, 2007. "Efficiency Incentives for a Regulated Monopoly: Some Lessons from the English and Welsh Water Industry," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, vol. 97(4), pages 115-144, July-Agou.
    24. Baltagi, Badi H. & Wu, Ping X., 1999. "Unequally Spaced Panel Data Regressions With Ar(1) Disturbances," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(6), pages 814-823, December.
    25. Jeffrey P. Cohen & Catherine Morrison Paul, 2007. "The Impacts Of Transportation Infrastructure On Property Values: A Higher‐Order Spatial Econometrics Approach," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 457-478, August.
    26. David S Saal & David Parker, 2000. "The impact of privatization and regulation on the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales: a translog cost function model," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(6), pages 253-268.
    27. John Ashton, 2000. "Cost efficiency in the UK water and sewerage industry," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(7), pages 455-458.
    28. Cubbin, John, 2005. "Efficiency in the water industry," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 289-293, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Walter, Matthias & Cullmann, Astrid & von Hirschhausen, Christian & Wand, Robert & Zschille, Michael, 2009. "Quo vadis efficiency analysis of water distribution? A comparative literature review," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(3-4), pages 225-232, September.
    2. Abbott, Malcolm & Cohen, Bruce, 2009. "Productivity and efficiency in the water industry," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(3-4), pages 233-244, September.
    3. Carvalho, Pedro & Marques, Rui Cunha & Berg, Sanford, 2012. "A meta-regression analysis of benchmarking studies on water utilities market structure," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 40-49.
    4. Guerrini, Andrea & Romano, Giulia & Leardini, Chiara, 2018. "Economies of scale and density in the Italian water industry: A stochastic frontier approach," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 103-111.
    5. Andrea Guerrini & Giulia Romano & Bettina Campedelli, 2013. "Economies of Scale, Scope, and Density in the Italian Water Sector: A Two-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis Approach," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(13), pages 4559-4578, October.
    6. François Destandau & Serge Garcia, 2014. "Service quality, scale economies and ownership: an econometric analysis of water supply costs," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 152-182, October.
    7. Michael Zschille, 2012. "Consolidating the Water Industry: An Analysis of the Potential Gains from Horizontal Integration in a Conditional Efficiency Framework," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1187, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    8. Saal David S. & Arocena Pablo & Maziotis Alexandros & Triebs Thomas, 2013. "Scale and Scope Economies and the Efficient Vertical and Horizontal Configuration of the Water Industry: A Survey of the Literature," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 93-129, March.
    9. Miguel A. García-Rubio & Francisco González-Gómez & Jorge Guardiola, 2009. "Performance and ownership in the governance of urban water," FEG Working Paper Series 09/03, Faculty of Economics and Business (University of Granada).
    10. Zschille, Michael, 2012. "Consolidating the Water Industry: An Analysis of the Potential Gains from Horizontal Integration in a Conditional Efficiency Fr," CEPR Discussion Papers 8737, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Graziano Abrate & Fabrizio Erbetta & Giovanni Fraquelli, 2011. "Public utility planning and cost efficiency in a decentralized regulation context: the case of the Italian integrated water service," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 227-242, June.
    12. Picazo-Tadeo, Andres J. & Saez-Fernandez, Francisco J. & Gonzalez-Gomez, Francisco, 2008. "Does service quality matter in measuring the performance of water utilities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 30-38, March.
    13. Augusto Mercadier & Walter Cont & Gustavo Ferro, 2016. "Economies of scale in Peru’s water and sanitation sector," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 215-228, April.
    14. Michael Zschille, 2015. "Consolidating the water industry: an analysis of the potential gains from horizontal integration in a conditional efficiency framework," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 97-114, August.
    15. Michael Zschille, 2014. "Nonparametric measures of returns to scale: an application to German water supply," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 1029-1053, November.
    16. Klien, Michael & Michaud, David, 2019. "Water utility consolidation: Are economies of scale realized?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    17. Torres, Marcelo & Morrison Paul, Catherine J., 2006. "Driving forces for consolidation or fragmentation of the US water utility industry: A cost function approach with endogenous output," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 104-120, January.
    18. Germà Bel, 2013. "Local government size and efficiency in capital-intensive services: what evidence is there of economies of scale, density and scope?," Chapters, in: Santiago Lago-Peñas & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez (ed.), The Challenge of Local Government Size, chapter 6, pages 148-170, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Takuya Urakami & David Parker, 2011. "The Effects of Consolidation amongst Japanese Water Utilities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(13), pages 2805-2825, October.
    20. Ángel M. Prieto & José L. Zofío & Inmaculada Álvarez, 2015. "Cost economies, urban patterns and population density: The case of public infrastructure for basic utilities," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(4), pages 795-816, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:39:y:2009:i:2:p:138-147. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/regec .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.