IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/regeco/v60y2021i2d10.1007_s11149-021-09439-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Price cap regulation and water quality

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Bue Bjørner

    (Danish Competition and Consumer Authority)

  • Jacob Victor Hansen

    (Danish Competition and Consumer Authority)

  • Astrid Fanger Jakobsen

    (Danish Competition and Consumer Authority)

Abstract

A number of studies suggest that price cap regulation may reduce the quality of the regulated good. This paper analyzes the impact on drinking water quality of a shift from cost-of-service to price cap regulation in Denmark, using a balanced panel of drinking water companies, for the period 2008 to 2016. The price cap was introduced in 2011 for companies above a certain threshold size. We exploit this quasi-experimental setting to estimate the impact of the shift in regulation using a regression discontinuity difference-in-differences approach. Our measure of drinking water quality is based on results from a compulsory surveillance drinking water testing program, which investigates whether or not water samples contain a level of microbiological content that exceeds limit values. More specifically, we compare the change over time in water quality for a treatment group of 113 companies regulated with price caps that have a size close to the threshold size for being regulated, with the change in drinking water quality for a control group of 282 companies that are below but close to the threshold size. We find that the shift in regulation has not caused a reduction in drinking water quality in Denmark.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Bue Bjørner & Jacob Victor Hansen & Astrid Fanger Jakobsen, 2021. "Price cap regulation and water quality," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 95-116, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:regeco:v:60:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s11149-021-09439-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11149-021-09439-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11149-021-09439-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11149-021-09439-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    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. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 69-85, Fall.
    2. Sandra E. Black, 1999. "Do Better Schools Matter? Parental Valuation of Elementary Education," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 577-599.
    3. Clements, Michael E., 0. "Local telephone quality-of-service: a framework and empirical evidence," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(5-6), pages 413-426, June.
    4. A. Mitchell Polinsky & Steven Shavell (ed.), 2007. "Handbook of Law and Economics," Handbook of Law and Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 2.
    5. Nicholas Bloom & Renata Lemos & Raffaella Sadun & Daniela Scur & John Van Reenen, 2014. "The New Empirical Economics of Management," NBER Working Papers 20102, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Cook, Thomas D., 2008. ""Waiting for Life to Arrive": A history of the regression-discontinuity design in Psychology, Statistics and Economics," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 636-654, February.
    7. Roycroft, Trevor R. & Garcia-Murrilo, Martha, 2000. "Trouble reports as an indicator of service quality: the influence of competition, technology, and regulation," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(10-11), pages 947-967, November.
    8. Joskow, Paul L., 2007. "Regulation of Natural Monopoly," Handbook of Law and Economics, in: A. Mitchell Polinsky & Steven Shavell (ed.), Handbook of Law and Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 16, pages 1227-1348, Elsevier.
    9. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    10. Chunrong AI & Salvador Martinez & David Sappington, 2004. "Incentive Regulation and Telecommunications Service Quality," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 263-285, August.
    11. Imbens, Guido W. & Lemieux, Thomas, 2008. "Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 615-635, February.
    12. Michael Lechner & Nuria Rodriguez-Planas & Daniel Fernández Kranz, 2016. "Difference-in-difference estimation by FE and OLS when there is panel non-response," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(11), pages 2044-2052, August.
    13. Anna Ter-Martirosyan & John Kwoka, 2010. "Incentive regulation, service quality, and standards in U.S. electricity distribution," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 258-273, December.
    14. David Sappington & Dennis Weisman, 2010. "Price cap regulation: what have we learned from 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry?," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 227-257, December.
    15. A. Mitchell Polinsky & Steven Shavell (ed.), 2007. "Handbook of Law and Economics," Handbook of Law and Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    16. Li, Han & Li, Jiangyi & Lu, Yi & Xie, Huihua, 2020. "Housing wealth and labor supply: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    17. David S. Lee & Thomas Lemieux, 2010. "Regression Discontinuity Designs in Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(2), pages 281-355, June.
    18. Michael Schmidthaler & Jed Cohen & Johannes Reichl & Stefan Schmidinger, 2015. "The effects of network regulation on electricity supply security: a European analysis," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 285-316, December.
    19. Ai, Chunrong & Sappington, David E.M., 2005. "Reviewing the impact of incentive regulation on U.S. telephone service quality," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 201-210, September.
    20. Banerjee, Aniruddha, 2003. "Does incentive regulation 'cause' degradation of retail telephone service quality?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 243-269, June.
    21. repec:fth:prinin:455 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Reichl, Johannes & Kollmann, Andrea & Tichler, Robert & Schneider, Friedrich, 2008. "The importance of incorporating reliability of supply criteria in a regulatory system of electricity distribution: An empirical analysis for Austria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 3862-3871, October.
    23. David Sappington, 2005. "Regulating Service Quality: A Survey," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 123-154, November.
    24. Joshua Angrist & Alan Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Working Papers 834, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Emil Heesche & Mette Asmild, 2022. "Implications of Aggregation Uncertainty in DEA," IFRO Working Paper 2022/02, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    2. Pu‐yan Nie & Hong‐xing Wen & Chan Wang, 2023. "Price cap regulation under duopoly," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(3), pages 1376-1382, April.

    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. Mauricio Villamizar‐Villegas & Freddy A. Pinzon‐Puerto & Maria Alejandra Ruiz‐Sanchez, 2022. "A comprehensive history of regression discontinuity designs: An empirical survey of the last 60 years," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 1130-1178, September.
    2. KAMKOUM, Arnaud Cedric, 2023. "The Federal Reserve’s Response to the Global Financial Crisis and its Effects: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis of the Impact of its Quantitative Easing Programs," Thesis Commons d7pvg, Center for Open Science.
    3. Arnaud Cedric Kamkoum, 2023. "The Federal Reserve's Response to the Global Financial Crisis and Its Long-Term Impact: An Interrupted Time-Series Natural Experimental Analysis," Papers 2305.12318, arXiv.org.
    4. Ovaere, Marten, 2023. "Cost-efficiency and quality regulation of energy network utilities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    5. Cuong Viet Nguyen & Finn Tarp, 2023. "Cash Transfers and Labor Supply: New Evidence on Impacts and Mechanisms," DERG working paper series 23-18, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Development Economics Research Group (DERG).
    6. Frandsen, Brigham R. & Frölich, Markus & Melly, Blaise, 2012. "Quantile treatment effects in the regression discontinuity design," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 168(2), pages 382-395.
    7. Timothy F. Harris & Aaron Yelowitz, 2018. "Life Insurance Holdings And Well‐Being Of Surviving Spouses," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(3), pages 526-538, July.
    8. Thomas Barrios & Rebecca Diamond & Guido W. Imbens & Michal Kolesár, 2012. "Clustering, Spatial Correlations, and Randomization Inference," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 107(498), pages 578-591, June.
    9. Jeffrey Smith & Arthur Sweetman, 2016. "Viewpoint: Estimating the causal effects of policies and programs," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 49(3), pages 871-905, August.
    10. Salazar, Lina & Maffioli, Alessandro & Aramburu, Julián & Agurto Adrianzen, Marcos, 2016. "Estimating the Impacts of a Fruit Fly Eradication Program in Peru: A Geographical Regression Discontinuity Approach," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 7505, Inter-American Development Bank.
    11. Christopher F. Parmeter & Jaren C. Pope, 2013. "Quasi-experiments and hedonic property value methods," Chapters, in: John A. List & Michael K. Price (ed.), Handbook on Experimental Economics and the Environment, chapter 1, pages 3-66, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. David Sappington & Dennis Weisman, 2010. "Price cap regulation: what have we learned from 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry?," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 227-257, December.
    13. Matias D. Cattaneo & Rocío Titiunik, 2022. "Regression Discontinuity Designs," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 821-851, August.
    14. Radulescu, Doina & Pavanini, Nicola & Feger, Fabian, 2016. "Welfare and Redistribution Effects of Alternative Tariffs in Energy Markets with Solar Power," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145669, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    15. Ai, Chunrong & Sappington, David E.M., 2005. "Reviewing the impact of incentive regulation on U.S. telephone service quality," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 201-210, September.
    16. Blaise Melly & Rafael Lalive, 2020. "Estimation, Inference, and Interpretation in the Regression Discontinuity Design," Diskussionsschriften dp2016, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    17. Clouston, Sean A.P. & Denier, Nicole, 2017. "Mental retirement and health selection: Analyses from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 78-86.
    18. Saastamoinen, Antti & Kuosmanen, Timo, 2016. "Quality frontier of electricity distribution: Supply security, best practices, and underground cabling in Finland," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 281-292.
    19. Blane D. Lewis & Hieu T. M. Nguyen, 2018. "Policy failure and educational attainment in Indonesia," Departmental Working Papers 2018-17, The Australian National University, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics.
    20. Yuan, Peng & Pu, Yuran & Liu, Chang, 2021. "Improving electricity supply reliability in China: Cost and incentive regulation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Price cap; Drinking water quality; Quasi-experiment; Regression discontinuity; Multi-period difference-in-differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • 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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:kap:regeco:v:60:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s11149-021-09439-y. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.