Does private management of water supply services really increase prices? An empirical analysis
Identificadores
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/29175Metadata
Show full item recordEditorial
Universidad de Granada. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales
Materia
Urban water services Privatization Water prices
Date
2007-11-22Referencia bibliográfica
Martínez-Espiñeira, R.; García-Valiñas, M.A.; González Gómez, F. Does private management of water supply services really increase prices? An empirical analysis. Universidad de Granada, Facultad de Economícas y Empresariales (2007). (FEG-WP; 5/07). [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/29175]
Abstract
In this paper we try to explain differences in the average price of domestic water supply services in Spain,
paying special attention to the effects of privatisation of the service on price levels. We base our empirical
analysis on the application of a `treatment effects' model on a sample of 53 major urban municipalities. This
model accounts for the fact that municipalities do not randomly assign themselves between a group using
strictly public ownership and management and a group where all or part of the service has been delegated to a
private firm. We find that, once this endogeneity is taken into account, there seems to be a positive and
significant effect of privatisation on water price levels.