Estimating Residential Water Demand in A Relocation Area With Ina

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Ateneo de Manila University

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Arch um Ateneo

Economics Department Faculty Publications Economics Department

3-2020

Estimating Residential Water Demand in a Relocation Area with


Inadequate Piped Water System
Rosalina Palanca-Tan

Follow this and additional works at: https://archium.ateneo.edu/economics-faculty-pubs

Part of the Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons, Economics Commons, and the
Environmental Studies Commons
Philippine Journal of Science
149 (1): 95-102, March 2020
ISSN 0031 - 7683
Date Received: 09 Oct 2019

Estimating Residential Water Demand in a Relocation


Area with Inadequate Piped Water System

Rosalina Palanca-Tan*

Department of Economics, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City 1108 Philippines

This paper assesses household water demand and estimates a demand equation particularly for
low-income households in the Philippines. The study uses survey data on the value and volume
of household water purchases from different water providers in a government resettlement
area. The paper provides empirical evidence on the impact of average water price on household
water consumption, as well as the effects of household income and size on household water
consumption. The study finds that households buying water from jetmatic pump wells and
water tankers pay more than five times that of those served by the piped water system. This
much higher cost of water from non-Water District sources could have constrained their water
consumption to just about half that of the Water District customers. The estimated water
demand equation reveals that demand for water significantly decreases with the average price
of water but is only weakly responsive to price changes, with a price elasticity of –0.38. It is
also found that water demand is not significantly affected by household income implying that
it is not the households’ low income but the unavailability of efficient water providers that
constrains consumption to a bare minimum. These findings confirm the high vulnerability
of low-income households to inadequate and inefficient water providers, necessitating more
prudent programming of the resettlement areas’ water supply system.

Keywords: income elasticity of demand, price elasticity of demand, residential water demand, water
supply systems

INTRODUCTION Residential demand for water is a particularly challenging


concern for the Philippine government. Provision of
Water resource constraint is a global problem that afflicts
adequate water is an imperative component of the
both developed and developing countries (Lu et al. 2017).
government’s mass housing projects, the centerpiece
In recent years, the need for integrated water resources
program in its poverty alleviation efforts (Executive
management that concentrates on water demand policies
Order no. 20 issued on 28 May 2001). “Clean water
has emerged. As a consequence, there is a growing need
and sanitation for all” is the sixth of the 17 Sustainable
for studies estimating water demand functions and demand
Development Goals in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
elasticities. Knowledge of the factors influencing domestic
Development adopted by the United Nations in 2015 (UN
water demand is crucial in the design of water policies and
Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Platform).
programs, especially in the context of increasing water
Access to freshwater, in sufficient quantity and quality, is
scarcity (Favre and Montginoul 2016).
necessary to protect health and reduce the costs associated
with water-related illnesses, malnutrition, and losses in
*Corresponding Author: [email protected] productivity. However, the government has been scoring
so poorly in this respect. Due to poor planning and

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Vol. 149 No. 1, March 2020

inefficiency and probably due to the urgency of the need Weak separability of water with respect to other goods,
to relocate, transfer to resettlement areas are commenced implying that water demand does not depend on prices
even when adequate water supply systems are not yet of other goods, is commonly assumed in the literature
completely in place. (Reynaud 2015). Arbues et al. (2004) argue that the
assumed separability of water with respect to other
There is a need to assess residential water demand and goods can be justified for three reasons: (1) there are no
understand the factors that affect this demand in low- substitutes for most indoor water uses, (2) household
income resettlement areas so as to aid policymakers in habits may be considered constant at least in the short
formulating relevant and responsive water provision run, and (3) complementary goods related to domestic
programs for this segment of the society. Water demand water consumption are typically durable appliance (e.g.
factor elasticities have implications on the adequacy of washing machines, bathroom and toilet fixtures, etc.) that
household water consumption, which has serious health is unlikely to be changed in the short term in reaction to
and well-being consequences, as well as on equity among a water price change.
households and between water providers and households.
Thus, the household demand for water (X) can be specified
This paper estimates a water demand equation for low- as a function of its price (p), household income (Y), a
income households using survey data on the value and vector of household characteristics (Z), and a vector of
volume of household water purchases from different water all other variables that may have an influence on water
suppliers in a resettlement site in the Philippines. The paper demand (U):
provides empirical evidence on the relationships between
average water price and household water consumption, X = X (p, Y, Z, U) (1)
and between household income and household water To analyze the strength of the influence of water price
consumption by calculating elasticities from the water and household income on household water consumption,
demand equation. Although literature on water demand water demand elasticities are calculated from the estimated
estimation and elasticity abound in many countries (see, coefficients of the water demand equation.
for instance, the literature review of Espey et al. 1997;
Arbues et al. 2003; Dalhuisen et al. 2003; Worthington and The price elasticity of water demand measures the
Hoffman 2008; Sebri 2014; Abolhasani 2018), such is not responsiveness of water demand to changes in its price.
the case for the Philippines. To the author’s knowledge, Mathematically, it is equal to the percent change in
the latest water demand study in the country was done by household water demand divided by the percent change
David and Inocencio way back in 1998. Water demand in the price of water. Using derivatives, the price elasticity
forecasts in the Philippines have been generally based of demand, εp, is calculated using the formula:
on population estimates and assumptions on per capita
water consumption. This paper aims to fill this gap that εp = [∂(X)/X] / [∂p/p] = [∂X/∂p] / [X/p] (2)
has prevailed over the past decades. Further, while David where ∂(X)/X is the percent change in water demand and
and Inocencio’s paper (1998) estimated the water demand ∂p/p is the percent change in price. Rearranging the terms,
equation for the whole of Metro Manila with a mix of εp can be expressed as the ratio of the derivative function,
households from all income levels, this study focuses on ∂X/∂p (the estimated coefficient of p in the water demand
low-income households, which may be the first in the equation), to the average function X/p.
water demand literature in the country. Similarly, the income elasticity of water demand, εY,
measures the responsiveness of household water use to a
change in household income and is calculated as the percent
change in household water demand, ∂X/X, divided by the
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK percent change in household income, ∂Y/Y, or the ratio of
Standard neoclassical demand theory assumes that each the marginal and average functions of water demand with
consumer maximizes utility, a continuous function of the respect to income (∂X/∂Y and X/Y, respectively):
bundle of commodities the consumer consumes, subject to εY = [∂(X)/X] / [∂Y/Y] = [∂X/∂Y] / [X/Y] (3)
a budget constraint given the prices of the commodities. In general, water demand elasticity with respect to any
The consumer’s demand for the commodity is then statistically significant explanatory variable, Zi, may be
derived as dependent on the income of the consumer, calculated and analyzed using the formula:
price of the commodity, availability and prices of related
commodities (either substitutes or complements of the εZi = [∂(X)/X] / [∂Zi/Zi] = [∂X/∂Zi] / [X/Zi] (4)
commodity under investigation), and other variables Reynaud (2015) points out that water used by households
reflecting consumer preferences. is a composite good that consists of direct (water for
drinking) and indirect (water as an input in different

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household activities such as cooking, washing, gardening, the primary sources of water before PWD’s piped water
etc.) uses. Water may have no substitute and hence a supply commenced in 2015 and jetmatic pump wells
necessity in some of its uses (such as in the case of became available. Delivery trucks come on a regular basis
drinking water) but, in its many other uses, it is not and particularly in areas with no piped water connections
its demand is likely to be more affected by price. and no jetmatic pump wells. Finally, two public hand-
pumped deep wells were constructed by the barangay
in Phases 4 and 5. Anyone can pump water anytime for
free. Nonetheless, access to free water from the public
METHODOLOGY deep wells is constrained by distance and the availability
of household members who can fetch and pump water
Study Site from the public well.
Pandi, a second-class municipality in the province of
Bulacan, is one of the major sites for the National Housing
Authority’s (NHA) resettlement programs. Bulacan is
immediately in the north of Metro Manila, the National DATA COLLECTION
Capital Region of the Philippines. Pandi, located in the A household survey was conducted to determine water
eastern portion of Bulacan, is 45 km northeast of Metro consumption and the particular water supplier/s availed
Manila. There are nine resettlement sites in Pandi with of by the households. The survey instrument was finalized
a total of 18,673 housing units. These resettlement after a focus group discussion with representative
developments could be the main factor behind the increase households, and a series of key informant interviews with
in the municipality’s population from only 66,650 in 2010 local government officials (Municipality of Pandi), head
to 89,075 in 2015. of the National Housing Authority (NHA) Representative
One of the nine resettlement projects is Pandi Residences Office in Pandi and community leaders. These pre-
2 (Pandi 2), which is located in Barangay Bagong Barrio. survey activities enabled the researchers to identify and
Pandi 2 has a total of 2,297 units, 99% of which (2,268) characterize all water supply modalities.
had already been occupied as of 04 May 2018 (NHA Pandi The instrument consisted of three parts. Part 1 asked basic
Representative Office 2018 interview). Pandi 2 is about 4.5 information about the respondent and the household. Part
km away from the municipality’s poblacion. Household 2, which made up about two-thirds of the questionnaire,
beneficiaries started occupying units in Pandi 2 in July 2014. contained detailed water-related questions. It started by
As the water supply infrastructure of the designated water asking which of the types of water providers available
utility, Pandi Water District (PWD), was not yet fully in the area are availed by the household. For each water
in place when resettled households started moving in, provider, questions on access, volume, and value of water
alternative water providers emerged to meet the rapidly consumption, water quality, household water treatment
growing water demand. General water supply (excluding method/s (if any), and satisfaction with the provider’s
drinking water supply) systems available in Pandi 2 can service were asked. Part 3 asked socioeconomic questions
be categorized into four: (1) piped water (PWD), (2) water such as household income, housing assets, consumption,
delivery tanks, (3) private jetmatic pump wells, and (4) and sanitation. All questions were provided with categorical
public hand-pumped wells. answers or ranges of values (except for age), from which
respondents could choose to make the task manageable for
The piped water system involves individual house the respondent and the responses to all questions quantifiable.
connections with PWD’s groundwater source. Due For the household income question, the respondent was
to delays in setting up the necessary water supply simply asked to choose from among income brackets (the
infrastructure for the whole of Pandi 2, only Phase 1 and highest of which is the open-ended bracket of PhP 100,000
a small portion of Phase 2 had been served by PWD at and above), to which the household belongs. Based on the
the time of the survey. Further, PWD’s supply is available researchers’ extensive survey experience, asking household
for a maximum of only 12 hours a day and has very weak income is generally not a difficult and sensitive task for low-
pressure due to the absence of an overhead reservoir. It income household surveys in the Philippines.
is also laden with frequent interruption (some lasting for
weeks) due to supply system breakdowns. Jetmatic pump For this study, a sample size of 50 households – following
wells were put up by some residents to generate water for the statisticians’ rule of thumb for a sufficient sample size
their own needs and for sale to neighboring households. for ordinary least squares regression – was targeted. This
Water is delivered to neighbors using a plastic hose that target sample size was distributed equally among the five
extends from the jetmatic pump well to houses a couple Phases in Pandi 2, i.e. 10 households from each Phase.
of blocks away. Water delivery trucks or tankers were Respondents in each Phase were chosen using systematic

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sampling. With a map sourced from NHA, a starting point a challenging task in demand estimation. Thus, the average
for each Phase was randomly identified and enumerators price measure appears to be the main alternative in most
were instructed to approach the 40th house from the studies (Arbues et al. 2003). The use of the average
starting point. The same interval was used for succeeding price variable is further justified by the observed limited
respondents. The survey was conducted through in-person knowledge and understanding of the complex water price
interviews during the months of October–December 2018. structure by consumers. Remarkably, some studies suggest
Each household interview lasted about 30–45 min. that water demand is more responsive to average price
than marginal price, and some other studies suggest that
the choice of the price variable does not greatly affect
Data Analysis
elasticity estimates (Arbues et al. 2003).
In the paper, household water demand is specified as
a function of average water price, household income, This study specifies a linear function, a commonly used
and household size. Water demand is measured as the functional form in the water demand literature. The
monthly volume of water consumed by the household, linear function implies that consumers are less sensitive
excluding drinking water in five-gallon containers to price when the price is lower, an assumption that is
purchased from water refilling stations. intuitively appealing and supported to some extent by
empirical literature on water demand (Billings and Day
The different water supply providers in Pandi 2 have
1989). The logarithmic form that results in constant price
different water pricing systems. The water district, just like
elasticity of demand (implying constant price sensitivity
other water utilities in the country, follows a progressive
at low and high prices) is not used for this study due to
block water rate schedule starting with a minimum flat
its lack of consistency with utility theory (Al-Quanibet
rate of PhP 195.00 for monthly water consumption of 10
and Johnston 1985). Further, the study of Abolhasani and
m3 and less (PWD website). Water tankers and jetmatic
co-authors (2018) found that the logarithmic functional
pump well owners charge prices that vary with the size
specification affects the price elasticity estimate.
of the water container. The content in gallons of each
container is converted into cubic meters to arrive at the This paper employs the ordinary least squares (OLS)
average price per cubic meter of water for each container. technique for the regression. As shown in many
The price per cubic meter of water increases with smaller literature reviews (see, for instance, Arbues et al. 2003
water containers, starting from PhP 120.08 for the large- and Abolhasani et al. 2018), OLS is the most widely
size 55-gallon drum to PhP 264.17 for a one-gallon pail used method in estimating residential water demand.
or basin. Water purchases from neighbors with PWD Abolhasani and co-authors’ meta-analysis (2018) reveals
piped water connections are priced on the monthly bill that the OLS technique results in more robust estimates,
sharing basis, or on an hourly basis, or by container (just i.e. its use does not significantly influence the price
like jetmatic pump well and water tanker), depending on elasticity estimate.
the relationship between seller and buyer.
To establish the suitability of the OLS method, the data
Water from public hand-pumped deep wells is free of sets are subjected to tests for conformity with the OLS
charge. In this case, the effective cost of water may be assumptions of normality, homoscedasticity, and absence
measured in terms of the time cost of getting water – of multicollinearity. The satisfaction of the normality
which consists of the time in going to/from the public assumption to invoke the Central Limit Theorem also
well, time in the queue, and time in pumping water. establishes the adequacy of the actual sample size used
Based on interviews with households accessing this for the regression. Finally, a correlation test of the error
water source, average time for fetching two five-gallon term with each explanatory variable is undertaken to
containers of water from the public well is about 15 min. check for simultaneity, a problem that may arise in
With a minimum wage rate of PhP 355 for an eight-hour demand estimation.
work-day in Region 3 – Central Luzon (National Wages
and Productivity Commission website 2019), the cost
of time for fetching water is estimated to be about PhP
293.65 per cubic meter of water. RESULTS
With the varying and rather complicated water pricing
systems in Pandi 2, only the average price can be Water Consumption Volume and Value, and Effective
calculated for the regression analysis. It has long been Water Prices, by Type of Water Supply Provider
recognized in the water literature that most water tariffs As mentioned earlier, the different water supply providers
have complex structures that combine fixed and variable have different water pricing systems, thus resulting in
charges, and the presence of non-uniform prices is always varying the effective price for every cubic meter of water

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across water providers. Column 2 of Table 1 reveals Finally, the only respondent household sourcing its water
the distribution of the final sample of 49 households mainly from the public deep well consumes about 3.16
according to the type of main water provider. The main m3 of water every month at no cash outlay.
source of water of the majority (27 households) is jetmatic
pump well. One of these 27 households is the owner of Table 1 reveals substantial differences in the financial
the jetmatic pump well. As it is hard to isolate its own burden assumed by Pandi 2 residents in meeting their
water consumption from its total water production, this daily water needs. Households buying water from jetmatic
respondent is dropped from the sample, thus reducing pump wells and water tankers pay more than five times
the sample size by one. The Water District serves about a for every cubic meter of water compared to households
third of the respondent households (16 households). Only served by the water utility. With the much higher financial
four of the respondent households source water mainly cost of water from non-water utility sources, affected
from water tankers, while two buy water from neighbors households limit their water consumption to about half the
connected to the Water District and one mainly fetch water consumption of those already served by the water utility.
from the public deep well. This distribution reflects the As water is a basic nutritional and hygiene requirement,
very limited service coverage of the Water District. It an overly constrained consumption can have serious health
also reveals that jetmatic pump well supply is generally and well-being implications.
preferred over water tankers as the former is more readily Water Demand Estimation
available. There is also some pressure for households to Table 2 presents the descriptive statistics of the variables
buy from a fellow resident and for water tankers not to used in the regression analysis. Overall, the sample of 49
go to areas with jetmatic pump well. households consume an average of 7.75 m3 of water per
The average monthly water consumption and payment per month and pay an average of PhP 90.17 for every cubic
household for each type of water provider are presented in meter of water. The average monthly income of the sample
columns 3 and 4, respectively, of Table 1. Water payment households is PhP 21,969. The average monthly income
is divided by water consumption to arrive at the effective of the sample households of PhP 21,969, when deflated
water price for each water provider (column 5). The to 2015 prices, is PhP 20,779, less than the average
sample of 16 households connected to PWD yields an monthly family income in the Philippines in 2015 of Php
average monthly water consumption of 11.06 m3 with an 22,000 (PSA 2015). On average, each household has five
average water bill of PhP 231.67, resulting in an effective members. Dummy variables for the type of water supplier
water price of PhP 23.73 per cubic meter of water. The are also included in the regression analysis. Of the 49
two households buying water from neighbors connected households included in the regression, 53% are mainly
to PWD make an average monthly water payment of PhP sourcing water from jetmatic pump wells (D_JPuWe), 8%
450.00 for 6.92 m3 of water, resulting in an effective cost from water tankers (D_WaTa), 4% from neighbors with
of PhP 86.46 per cubic meter of water. piped water (D_NPiWa), and 2% from the public hand-
pumped deep well (D_PDeWe). The remaining 33% are
The sample of 26 households that mainly source water connected to the water utility.
from a neighboring jetmatic pump well owner makes an
average water purchase of PhP 788.63 for 6.18 m3 of water Regression tests reveal satisfaction of the OLS assumptions
per month, resulting in an effective cost of PhP 130.39 (please refer to the second panel of Table 3). White’s test
per cubic meter of water. Monthly purchases from water confirms that residuals are homoscedastic and, hence,
tankers of the sample of 6 households average PhP 735.00 the estimated OLS coefficients are unbiased and reliable
for average consumption of 5.98 m3 with an effective cost (minimum variance). Mean VIF of 2.36 is much lower than
of PhP 121.48 per cubic meter of water. 10 implying that multicollinearity is not a problem, which

Table 1. Effective water prices by water supply providers.


Water supply provider Number of respondent Average monthly water Average monthly Effective water price per
households consumption (m3) water payment (PhP) cubic meter of water (PhP)
PWD 16 11.06 231.67 23.17
Neighbor connected to 2 6.92 450.00 86.46
PWD
Jetmatic deep well 26 6.18 788.63 130.39
Water tanker 4 5.98 735.00 121.48
Public hand-pumped well 1 3.16 0.00(cash outlay) 0.0 (cash outlay); 293.65
(time cost of fetching water)

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Table 2. Descriptive statistics.


Variable Name Min Max Mean Std. deviation
Monthly water consumption (m3) WaterDd 0.83 16.46 7.75 4.10
Effective water price (PhP/m3) EffPrice 0.00 263.16 90.17 60.98
Total monthly household income (PhP) HHIncome 1,500 90,000 21,969 15,311
Household size (no. of household members) HHSize 2 12 5.16 2.94
Dummy for jetmatic pump well D_JPuWe 0 1 0.53 0.50
Dummy for water tanker D_WaTa 0 1 0.08 0.28
Dummy for neighbor’s piped water D_NPiWa 0 1 0.04 0.20
Dummy for public deep well D_PDeWe 0 1 0.02 0.14

is also supported by very weak (close to zero) correlations For instance, Taylor (1975) – in estimating electricity
for all pairs of explanatory variables. The Jarque-Bera tests demand – noted that the tariff structure is independent of
show that both the dependent variable and the error term consumption in the short-run and hence the simultaneity
do not significantly deviate from a normal distribution, issue was irrelevant and could be ignored. The same can
implying that the sample size is adequate to invoke the be said of the water pricing structures of the various water
Central Limit Theorem and run an OLS regression. supply providers in Pandi 2.
Finally, the residuals are not at all correlated with any
of the explanatory variables (all correlation coefficients The water demand regression results (first panel of Table
are 0.0000) and, hence, simultaneity is not likely a 3) reveal that the effective price of water and the size of
problem. Arbues and co-authors (2003) note that the the household are statistically significant determinants of
simultaneity problem is usually considered an empirical households’ water demand. In conformity with economic
issue, dependent on the particular context and data set. theory, demand for water is lower the higher the price of
water. Specifically, when water is cheaper by PhP 1, the
Table 3. Water demand regression results, ordinary least squares monthly water consumption of the household is higher by
method. 0.0335 m3. Intuitively, household size has a statistically
Explanatory Demand
significant positive impact on water demand – an additional
Coefficient p-value member in the household increases its monthly water
variable elasticity
EffPrice –0.03350 0.040 –0.3899
consumption by 0.5265 m3. Household income does not
have a statistically significant effect on water demand. For
HHIncome –0.00001 0.718 –
the dummy variables for the type of supplier, only the public
HHSize 0.52652 0.025 0.3578 deep well system turns out to be statistically significant. Its
D_JPuWe –1.35167 0.492 – coefficient indicates that demand for water from the public
D_WaTa 0.11599 0.963 – deep well system would be about 9.75 m3 lower than the
demand for piped water. This reflects the inconveniences
D_NPiWa –1.11639 0.761 –
and the high time cost of fetching water from the public
D_PDeWe –9.74797 0.015 – deep wells even if the cash outlay for this water source is nil.
Constant 9.28550 0.000 – It is noted that even households residing just a few meters
R2 0.4426 – – away from the public deep wells buy water from jetmatic
Adj R2 0.3474 – – pump wells or water tankers.
F-stat 4.65 0.001 – Demand elasticities with respect to each of the two
Tests – statistically significant explanatory variables are given in
Jarque-Bera 1.802 0.4062 –
the fourth column of Table 3. Demand for water is price
normality test for inelastic as water is a basic necessity. People will continue
dependent variable to buy water no matter what the price is, putting them at
C_W the mercy of the available suppliers and, hence, the need
Jarque-Bera 1.61 0.4465 – for an active government role in the sector. The inelastic
normality test for demand with respect to household size, on the other hand,
residuals r
reflects economies of scale in household water use. If
White’s test for 24.69 0.2134 – the number of household members doubles, for instance,
Heteroscedasticity
water demand increases but less proportionately.
Mean VIF 2.36 - –

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CONCLUSION residents still do not have access to piped water.


This paper provides empirical evidence on water demand The findings of the study reveal the high vulnerability
and its elasticities for the particular case of low-income of low-income households to an inadequate and
households in the Philippines. The study finds that inefficient water supply system. While the price-inelastic
demand for water in this government resettlement area water demand reflects the nature of water as a basic
significantly decreases with the average price of water necessity with no close substitute, it also underscores
but is only weakly responsive to price changes, with the helplessness of low-income households. Pandi 2
an estimated price elasticity of –0.38. This means that households will maintain their barely minimum water
a 10% increase in the average price of water will only purchase no matter what the price is, putting them at the
induce a 3.8% reduction in water consumption. This mercy of the available suppliers. Hence, the study serves to
estimate is within the range of values, –0.2 to –0.5, highlight the greater need for more prudent programming
derived by David and Inocencio (1998) for Metro Manila, of the water supply system and for choosing a water utility
Philippines in 1998, and the range –0.3 to –0.6 in the with an established and good-performing record for the
literature review of Nauges and Whittington (2010) for resettlement areas. It also calls for some controls for price
developing countries. Most recent studies in low-income and quality standards of small-scale water providers that
communities in developing countries likewise result in cater to low-income communities.
weakly-price responsive water demand. In Tunisia, Favre
and Montginoul (2016) estimated the price elasticity of
demand to be just -0.1 for piped households and even 0.0
for non-piped households. Abolhasani and co-authors ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
(2018) surveyed 21 empirical case studies in Iran with
This study was undertaken with a research grant from
65 estimates of price elasticity for residual water demand
the University Research Council of the Ateneo de Manila
ranging between –0.428 and –0.312. A vast literature on
University. The excellent research assistance and survey
residential water demand in developed countries also
supervision of Ms. Marilyn Palanca, as well as the
found water demand to be generally price-inelastic.
enthusiastic participation of the enumerators and Pandi
Espey and co-authors (1997) reviewed 124 price elasticity
2 respondents, are gratefully acknowledged. The author
estimates from 24 residential water demand studies in the
also extends her gratitude to the two anonymous reviewers
United States and found that 90% of the estimates ranged
whose comments and suggestions helped improve the paper.
between 0 and –0.75 and the average of all estimates was
just –0.51. Dalhuisen and co-authors’ (2003) survey of
64 studies with 314 estimates of price elasticity of water
demand had a mean of –0.41 and a median of –0.35 while
Sebri’s (2014) most recent meta-analysis of price elasticity
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