The Perception of Residential Water Tariff, Consumption, and Cost: Evidence of its Determinants Using Survey Data

Barberán, Ramón (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; López-Laborda, Julio (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Rodrigo, Fernando (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Resumen: In a survey of 1, 500 households in Zaragoza (Spain), we found that respondents did not accurately know what the price of water was, and what the characteristics of the water tariff were, how much water they consumed, or how much it cost them; they thought they consumed less water than they actually did, and thought that their consumption level was normal; they believed they paid more than they really did, and considered the payments to be appropriate or expensive. Based on this sample of households, this paper analyses what determines the level of accuracy in the perception of consumers about their water tariff, their water consumption, and their total water cost, or, in other words, what determines the closeness between their perception and reality. The methodology applied is based on maximum likelihood estimates using various probit/logit models. The results obtained allow to identify the collectives to whom an information policy should be directed in order to approximate their perceptions closer to the real tariff, consumption and cost of water in households, and to point out the kind of information that should be transmitted in order to contribute to the preservation of water resources.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1007/s11269-022-03134-z

Año: 2022

Publicado en: Water Resources Management 36, 9 (2022), 2933-2952
ISSN: 0920-4741

Factor impacto JCR: 4.3 (2022)

Categ. JCR: WATER RESOURCES rank: 25 / 103 = 0.243 (2022) - Q1 - T1
Categ. JCR: ENGINEERING, CIVIL rank: 33 / 139 = 0.237 (2022) - Q1 - T1

Factor impacto CITESCORE: 6.9 - Environmental Science (Q1) - Engineering (Q1)

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 0.894 - Water Science and Technology (Q1) - Civil and Structural Engineering (Q1)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/S23-20R
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/UZ-OTRI/22012-0539

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)

Área (Departamento): Área Economía Aplicada (Dpto. Economía Aplicada)