This study used meta-analysis to assess the influence of price/price structures on residential water demand in two selected urban areas in California: East Los Angeles and South San Francisco. Monthly usage data for the years 2002–2011 were utilized to determine and compare price elasticities for periods when uniform and tiered rates were charged using fixed effects panel regression and Instrumental Variable methods. Price elasticities in East Los Angeles and South San Francisco were −0.39 and −0.22 under uniform rates and −0.44 and 0.43 under tiered rates, respectively. When customers in each city were divided into three groups based upon their lot sizes, those with larger lot sizes tended to react to pricing systems more strongly than those living on smaller lots. These findings will be helpful for water demand stakeholders and policymakers seeking to design and implement more effective water pricing policies to support sustainable water conservation efforts.
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Research Article|
September 24 2014
Price elasticity of residential water demand in California
Juneseok Lee;
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, San José State University, San José CA 95112, USA
E-mail: Juneseok.Lee@sjsu.edu
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Stephanie A. Tanverakul
Stephanie A. Tanverakul
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, San José State University, San José CA 95112, USA
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Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua (2015) 64 (2): 211–218.
Article history
Received:
June 21 2014
Accepted:
August 29 2014
Citation
Juneseok Lee, Stephanie A. Tanverakul; Price elasticity of residential water demand in California. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua 1 March 2015; 64 (2): 211–218. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2014.082
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