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Dettaglio pubblicazione

2018, ENVIRONMENTAL MODELLING & SOFTWARE, Pages 236-248 (volume: 101)

Determinants of the price response to residential water tariffs: meta-analysis and beyond (01a Articolo in rivista)

Marzano R., Rougé C., Garrone P., Grilli L., Harou J. J., Pulido-Velasquez M.

Meta-analyses synthesise available data on a phenomenon to get a broader understanding of its determinants. This work proposes a two-step methodology. 1) Based on a broad dataset of residential water demand studies, it builds a meta-regression model to estimate mean and standard deviation of price elasticity of residential water demand. 2) The resulting meta-model serves as a basis for implementing an approach that directly simulates the range of price elasticities resulting from policy-relevant combinations of its determinants. This simulation approach is validated using the available dataset. Despite evidence of low average price elasticity, the scenarios simulated using our meta-regression estimates show that increasing block rate tariffs are associated with higher price elasticity, and stresses the importance of using state-of-the-art methodologies when evaluating the price response. This completes other methodological insights obtained from the meta-analysis itself. Policy implications on the use of pricing to bring about water savings are discussed.
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