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Estimation of Residential Water Demand with Imperfect Price Perception

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  • Marie-Estelle Binet

    (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Fabrizio Carlevaro

    (Département d'économétrie et Centre universitaire d'étude des problèmes de l'énergie - UNIGE - Université de Genève = University of Geneva)

  • Michel Paul

    (CEMOI - Centre d'Économie et de Management de l'Océan Indien - UR - Université de La Réunion)

Abstract

Using data from a household survey carried out in the French overseas territory of Réunion, we investigate the price of drinking-water perceived by households faced with an increasing, multi-step pricing scheme. To this purpose we use an improved version of the method introduced by Shin (1985) to estimate the demand for residential water when consumers are imperfectly informed about their pricing schedule. The empirical results suggest that Réunion households underestimate the price of water and thus consume more than what is economically rational. Providing information to households about the marginal price of water may be an innovative means of inducing them to respond to pricing policies designed to promote water conservation.

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  • Marie-Estelle Binet & Fabrizio Carlevaro & Michel Paul, 2014. "Estimation of Residential Water Demand with Imperfect Price Perception," Post-Print halshs-00918147, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00918147
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-013-9750-z
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    3. Havranek, Tomas & Irsova, Zuzana & Vlach, Tomas, 2016. "Publication Bias in Measuring the Income Elasticity of Water Demand," MPRA Paper 75247, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Milan Ščasný & Šarlota Smutná, 2021. "Estimation of price and income elasticity of residential water demand in the Czech Republic over three decades," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 580-608, June.
    5. María Á. García-Valiñas & Roberto Martínez-Espiñeira & Marta Suárez-Varela Maciá, 2021. "Price and Consumption Misperception Profiles: The Role of Information in the Residential Water Sector," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 80(4), pages 821-857, December.
    6. Tomas Havranek & Zuzana Irsova & Tomas Vlach, 2018. "Measuring the Income Elasticity of Water Demand: The Importance of Publication and Endogeneity Biases," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 94(2), pages 259-283.
    7. Pérez, María & Libra, Jesse & Machado, Kleber & Serebrisky, Tomás & Solís, Ben, 2022. "Water Bill Perception in Brazil: Do Households Get It Right?," EconStor Preprints 264986, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    8. Janine Stone & Christopher Goemans & Marco Costanigro, 2019. "Variation in Water Demand Responsiveness to Utility Policies and Weather: A Latent-Class Model," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 6(01), pages 1-33, September.
    9. Michael O'Donnell & Robert P. Berrens, 2018. "Understanding Falling Municipal Water Demand in a Small City Dependent on the Declining Ogallala Aquifer: Case Study of Clovis, New Mexico," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 4(04), pages 1-40, October.
    10. Roberto Balado-Naves & Marian Garcia-Valiñas & David Roibas, 2023. "Efficiency, perceived prices, and household water demand: A stochastic frontier analysis for the Spanish city of Gijón," Efficiency Series Papers 2023/01, University of Oviedo, Department of Economics, Oviedo Efficiency Group (OEG).
    11. Roberto Balado-Naves & Marian Garcia-Valiñas & David Roibas, 2023. "Efficiency, perceived prices, and household water demand: A stochastic frontier analysis for the Spanish city of Gijón," Working Papers hal-04147781, HAL.
    12. Younes Ben Zaied & Marie Estelle Binet, 2015. "Modelling seasonality in residential water demand: the case of Tunisia," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(19), pages 1983-1996, April.
    13. Patrícia Moura e Sá & Rita Martins, 2015. "Perceções dos Consumidores Domésticos acerca das Faturas de Água," Notas Económicas, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, issue 42, pages 30-48, December.
    14. Lee, Gi-Eu & Chou, Chang-Erh, 2020. "The Ex Ante Price Information Effect on Water Conservation: A Case Study of Taipei’s Water Tariff Adjustment," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304253, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Mónica Maldonado-Devis & Vicent Almenar-Llongo, 2021. "A Panel Data Estimation of Domestic Water Demand with IRT Tariff Structure: The Case of the City of Valencia (Spain)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-26, January.
    16. Roberto Balado-Naves & Sara Suarez-Fernandez, 2023. "Residential water demand: Gender differences in water consumption," Efficiency Series Papers 2023/06, University of Oviedo, Department of Economics, Oviedo Efficiency Group (OEG).
    17. Pinto, Francisco Silva & Marques, Rui Cuhna, 2015. "Tariff recommendations: A Panacea for the Portuguese water sector?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 36-44.
    18. René Cabral & Luciano Ayala & Victor Hugo Delgado, 2017. "Residential Water Demand and Price Perception under Increasing Block Rates," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 37(1), pages 508-519.
    19. María Ángeles García-Valiñas & Sara Suárez-Fernández, 2022. "Are Economic Tools Useful to Manage Residential Water Demand? A Review of Old Issues and Emerging Topics," Post-Print hal-04067487, HAL.
    20. Ramón Barberán & Julio López-Laborda & Fernando Rodrigo, 2022. "The Perception of Residential Water Tariff, Consumption, and Cost: Evidence of its Determinants Using Survey Data," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 36(9), pages 2933-2952, July.
    21. Pérez-Urdiales, María & Libra, Jesse M. & Machado, Kleber B. & Serebrisky, Tomás & Sosa, Ben Solís, 2024. "Household water bill perception in Brazil," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    22. Marie-Estelle Binet & María Ángeles García-Valiñas & Michel Paul, 2020. "Price perception under blocks tariff schemes : a comparison of drinking water consumption beliefs and behaviors and recommandations for efficient nudging policies," Post-Print hal-03192716, HAL.

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