The subject of General Cost Structure Analysis is the quantitative analysis of cost structures with a minimum of a priori assumptions on firm technology and on firm behaviour. The study develops an innovative line of attack building on the primal characterisation of the firm's generalised shadow...

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...