Potable water supply in Germany is highly fragmented. A consolidation of the industry could, therefore, lead to lower cost of water supply and price savings for the customers. In this paper we estimate a total cost function for potable water supply based on a unique sample of German water...

Agricultural producers make investment decisions based on beliefs about future returns. This article investigates how changes in beliefs about input availability affects the adoption of conservation practices. We develop a theoretical model to examine how a producer's beliefs about water...

Angesichts der voranschreitenden Liberalisierungsbestrebungen und einer zunehmenden Internationalisierung der Wasserwirtschaft stellt sich die Frage, wie sich eine Änderung des Ordnungsrahmens in Deutschland auf die Marktstruktur und die Angebotsbedingungen auswirken würde. Die...

Ergänzend zu dem im ifo Schnelldienst 14/2001 diskutierten Thema "Liberalisierung der Wasserversorgung - soll das letzte Versorgungsmonopol in Deutschland fallen?" stellt Dr. Alfred Tacke, Staatssekretär im Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie, den Standpunkt der Bundesregierung...

Bereits 1999 startete das Bundeswirtschaftsministerium die Diskussion um eine Liberalisierung der Wasserversorgung in Deutschland, und mittlerweile verkaufen immer mehr Kommunen Anteile an den in ihrem Eigentum befindlichen Wasserversorgungsunternehmen an private Investoren. Für eine...

Political instability of several countries in the Middle East is overshadowing one of the biggest challenges of the upcoming century: Water - a natural resource that is easily taken for granted, but whose scarcity might lead to serious conflicts. This paper investigates an optimal Water...

Germany's water supply industry is characterized by a multitude of utilities and widely diverging prices, possibly resulting from structural differences beyond the control of firms' management, but also from inefficiencies. In this article we use Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Frontier...

Global climate change is already impacting water resources and, in many areas, reducing the amount of water available for drinking, sanitation, and agriculture. Water conservation can be a means to mitigate the economic damages associated with water scarcity, including scarcity arising from...

New technologies allow perfect detection of environmental violations at near-zero marginal cost, but take-up is low. We conducted a field experiment to evaluate enforcement of water conservation rules with smart meters in Fresno, CA. Households were randomly assigned combinations of enforcement...

Water suppliers are showing greater interest in using different mechanisms to promote conservation. One such mechanism is conducting home water audits, which involves assessing water use and providing tailored suggestions for conserving water for residential customers. Yet, very little is known...