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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
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    Cited by:

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    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.

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    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

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