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The impact of price on residential water demand: Some new insights
Author(s) -
Howe Charles W.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr018i004p00713
Subject(s) - price elasticity of demand , economics , elasticity (physics) , econometrics , agricultural economics , marginal cost , water use , consumer demand , demand curve , environmental science , natural resource economics , microeconomics , ecology , biology , materials science , composite material
Marginal price elasticities are reestimated from the Johns Hopkins Residential Water Use Project data of 1963–1965, utilizing more appropriate forms of household water demand functions derived from recent advances in consumer theory that account for the effects of a rate structure. Winter season elasticity is found to be a very low −0.06 compared to −0.23 in a 1967 study. For summer demands, price elasticities are found to be lower than earlier estimates, namely, −0.568 versus −0.860 for eastern U.S. areas and −0.427 versus −0.519 for western areas.