New publication: a global survey of urban water tariffs

This paper, A global survey of urban water tariffs: are they sustainable, efficient and fair? (with Christopher Gasson), was just published.

Abstract: This paper examines the relations between tariffs and sustainability, efficiency and equity, using a unique data-set for 308 cities in 102 countries. Higher water tariffs are correlated with lower per capita consumption, smaller local populations, lower water availability, higher demand and a lower risk of shortage. Aggregating to the national level, higher tariffs are correlated with higher GDP and better governance. A different country-level analysis shows that a higher percentage of the population with water service is correlated with better governance, higher GDP and a greater risk of water shortage. The relation between water prices and service coverage is statistically inconsistent.

You can download my author's version here: http://kysq.org/pubs/Zetland_Gasson.pdf