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Introducing a new measure of residential water rate progressivity
Author(s) -
Switzer David
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
awwa water science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2577-8161
DOI - 10.1002/aws2.1132
Subject(s) - measure (data warehouse) , econometrics , consumption (sociology) , economics , statistics , water consumption , environmental science , mathematics , computer science , water resource management , social science , sociology , database
Utility rate structures play a crucial role in water conservation. Rate structures send signals to consumers about the desired level of water consumption. Despite the importance of rates as a form of conservation policy, there is currently no broadly comparable measure of the conservation orientation of utility rate structures across rate structure types. Previous studies investigating the correlates of rate structures have made use of a dichotomous variable of whether a utility has adopted conservation‐oriented rates. I develop a slope‐based measure of rate progressivity to capture the variation of water rates. Using an original data set of utility rates data for 852 U.S. cities, I explore the distribution and variety of water rates across the United States and use a statistical analysis to explore the potential correlates of municipal rate progressivity, showing differences between the dichotomous and continuous measures.