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RATE BASE METHODS AND REALIZED RATES OF RETURN
Author(s) -
PRIMEAUX WALTER J.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7295.1978.tb00495.x
Subject(s) - earnings , economics , valuation (finance) , econometrics , rate of return , variance (accounting) , value (mathematics) , actuarial science , statistics , accounting , mathematics , finance
Considerable regulatory energy and academic research has been devoted to examining the question of what constitutes the “correct” basis of valuation of the rate base for utility firms. This study compares utility earnings using data which adjust for differences among state jurisdictions concerning what is allowed in the rate base. The results show that there is no statistical difference in earnings of firms regulated by original cost, fair value, and reproduction cost jurisdictions. The results also show that regulation cannot generally explain the variance in earnings between states and rapid inflation does not seem to affect the results.