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

Author

Listed:
  • Rita Martins

    (Faculty of Economics,University of Coimbra)

  • Fernando Coelho
  • Adelino Fortunato

    (Faculty of Economics and GEMF,University of Coimbra)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Rita Martins & Fernando Coelho & Adelino Fortunato, 2008. "Water Losses and Hydrographical Regions Influence on the Cost Structure of the Portuguese Water Industry," GEMF Working Papers 2008-06, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    • Handle: RePEc:gmf:wpaper:2008-06
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    Cited by:

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    3. 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.
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    5. Amaral, António L. & Martins, Rita & Dias, Luís C., 2023. "Operational drivers of water reuse efficiency in Portuguese wastewater service providers," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    6. Michael Zschille, 2014. "Marktstrukturen in der Trinkwasserversorgung," DIW Roundup: Politik im Fokus 43, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. 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.
    8. Michael Zschille, 2016. "Cost Structure and Economies of Scale in German Water Supply," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1576, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Pérez-López, Gemma & Prior, Diego & Zafra-Gómez, José L., 2018. "Temporal scale efficiency in DEA panel data estimations. An application to the solid waste disposal service in Spain," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 18-27.
    12. Martins, Rita & Fortunato, Adelino, 2016. "Critical analysis of the Portuguese Water Industry Restructuring Plan," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(PB), pages 131-139.
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    14. Anna Bottasso & Maurizio Conti, 2021. "Economie di integrazione verticale ed economie di scopo nel settore idrico e fognario: alcune considerazioni alla luce dell?evidenza empirica internazionale," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(3), pages 89-128.
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    17. Humberto Brea-Solis & Sergio Perelman & David Saal, 2017. "Regulatory incentives to water losses reduction: the case of England and Wales," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 259-276, June.
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    20. 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.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    water utilities; water losses; river basins; multi-product cost function;
    All these keywords.

    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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