Optimal Water Metering and Pricing

Marginal cost pricing of running water and sewerage services has long been the default recommendation of economists and natural resource specialists to firms and local governments. However, water pricing has never been studied simultaneously with the water metering problem before. The socially optimal number of meters crucially depends on the price of water charged by the Water Company because depending on this will be the fall in consumption and therefore in water production costs and vice versa. This paper breaks the inertia as it combines both issues in one optimization problem. Both in a centralized and in a decentralized way, the optimal number of meters is determined simultaneously with the optimal per unit water rate. The Rateable Value System (RV) (i.e. the “Status Quo” or benchmark regime) is confronted with Universal Metering (UM), Optimal Metering (OM) and Decentralized Metering (DM) in terms of optimal water rates and the socially optimal number of meters. Except for RV, the results of (UM), (OM) and (DM) all recommend setting price equal to marginal cost and the optimal number of meters is hereby endogenously determined by a functional form relating water and metering costs and water demand characteristics. Conclusions and policy recommendations are drawn from the theoretical analysis.water metering, water pricing

An Incentive Mechanism for Decentralized Water Metering Decisions

Metering water consumption has been long advocated by economists in developing countries as a way to curb waste and prevent resource depletion. However, very few of these economists have studied the inefficiencies brought about by universal metering or the conditions under which decentralized water metering decisions are optimal. The decision where to install water meters generally rests on either the consumer or the company providing the service. This paper shows that if left unregulated, both the consumer’s and the company’s decentralized water metering decisions are sub-optimal. This is because the firm when installing meters, does not take into account the fall in consumer surplus and the consumer, when voluntarily installing a meter in his dwelling, does not take into account the effect of his decision on the company’s profits. To solve this externality problem and make the decentralized decision optimal, an incentive mechanism is proposed. The mechanism works through a series of Pigouvian taxes imposed by the regulator on the party creating the externality. By means of these taxes, externalities are internalized and both the consumer and the company reach the socially optimal solution in a decentralized way. The implementation of this mechanism in practice is materialized through a Coasian property rights approach where the parties involved reach the efficient solution by bargaining over welfare gains. The party installing the meter has to buy the “right to meter” from the metered party by fairly compensating him thus internalizing the externality and reaching the efficient outcome. To illustrate the incentives involved in metering water consumption, the rate structure and metering policies of two water concessions in Argentina are studied: Buenos Aires and Córdoba. Conclusions and policy recommendations are drawn from the theory and the two practical cases.water metering, water pricing, water rates

O “Senhor absoluto dos Sertoes”. O “Capitao preto” José Lopes, a Amazônia e o Cabo Verde

Este artículo discute las experiencias del cabo-verdiano José Lopes, figura influyente en los sertones de Río Negro, en la Amazonia de final del siglo XVII e inicio del siglo XVIII. Se trata de entender de qué manera su inserción en el mundo amazónico estuvo determinada no sólo por las redes de poder en las cuales se insertó, sino también en las especificidades de la sociedad y de la experiencia histórica cabo-verdiana de aquel momento.This article discusses the deeds of José Lopes, a Cape Yerdean who became and influential and powerful figure in the hinterland of the Portuguese Amazon region, at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries. To understand the nature of his actions one has to examine not only the political networks to which he was connected in the region, but also the specificities of the Cape Verdean historical experience and society at that time

“Como se hace en Indias de Castilla”. Cocoa in the Portuguese Amazonia and the Castilian Indies (17th and 18th Centuries)

El objetivo de este artículo es investigar las razones por las cuales la corona portuguesa invirtió en el cultivo del cacao en sus posesiones septentrionales de América. El principal argumento del texto es que la importancia creciente del cacao para Portugal fue resultado de una relación entre lo que podríamos llamar de “herencia” castellana en el mundo portugués, una serie de circunstancias económicas de la producción y comercio del cacao en el mundo hispánico y el proceso de “atlantización” de las conquistas portuguesas.The objective of this article is to study the reasons behind the Portuguese Crown’s decision to invest in the cultivation of Cocoa in its northernmost American possessions. The main argument is that Portugal’s growing interest in cocoa was the result of related factors, which include what we could call the Portuguese world’s Castilian “heritage”, the economic circumstances of cocoa production and commerce in the Hispanic world and the “Atlantization” of the Portuguese conquests

El diseño y el imperativo ecológico

La degradación del medio ambiente surge en las sociedades desarrolladas en un contexto de plena industrialización; en los países no desarrollados, sin embargo, aparece en un contexto de incipiente o nula industrialización. Dado que a inicios de los '70 se esperaba que los países no desarrollados entraran en un proceso acelerado de crecimiento, los problemas ambientales derivados de la falta de desarrollo fueron relegados dentro del debate mundial. El diseño no escapó a esta tendencia, adoptando como propios problemas de otras sociedades. En el presente trabajo se hace una revisión de la problemática ambiental implícita en el concepto de Ecodiseño al tiempo que se brindan nuevos elementos de análisis para una interpretación desde el diseño en la periferia.La dégradation de l'environnement surgit dans les sociétés développées dans un contexte de pleine industrialisation. Dans le pas des pays développés, néanmoins, cela apparaît dans un contexte d'industrialisation naissante ou nulle. Aux principes des années 70, on attendait que les pays non développés entraient à un processus intensif de croissance, les problèmes environnementaux tirés du manque de développement ont été relégués à l'intérieur du débat du monde. La « design » n'a pas échappé à cette tendance, et il s'appropria des problèmes d'autres sociétés. Dans ce travail, on fait une revue de la problématique implicite dans le concept de « ecodesign », tandis que l'on offre des nouveaux éléments d'analyse pour une interprétation d'après le « design » dans la périphérie.Fil: Chambouleyron, Mercedes. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasFil: Pattini, Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Artes y Diseñ

Performance measurement in farmer-managed irrigation systems: Proceedings of an International Workshop of the Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems Network, Mendoza, Argentina, 12-15 November 1991

Farmer managed irrigation systems / Performance evaluation / Performance indexes / Irrigation management / Case studies / Water distribution / Social aspects / Water users' associations / Tube wells / Indonesia / Pakistan / Bolivia / Israel / Mexico / Peru / Venezuela / Andean Region / Philippines / Nepal / Sri Lanka / India / Egypt / Portugal / Tanzania / Argentina / China / Bangladesh

Highly Conductive And Transparent Amorphous Tin Oxide

The physical properties of chemically sprayed tin oxide films have been investigated. The optical and transport behavior of both amorphous and polycrystalline material depends on the reaction temperature. Amorphous films deposited at very low temperatures (Ts=220°C) possess a conductivity as high as that of the polycrystalline layers. Hall effect measurements and compositional analyses of those amorphous films show that nonintentional chlorine doping is responsible for the increased conductivity. Optical transmission in the visible region of the spectrum is almost as good in amorphous as in polycrystalline material. An antireflecting coating of amorphous tin oxide with an optical gain of 40% has been achieved on silicon wafers. Furthermore, film thickness homogeneity broadens the field of application to various optoelectronic devices.54143143

Indium And Gallium P-type Doping Of Hydrogenated Amorphous Germanium Thin Films

Hydrogenated amorphous germanium films have been p-type doped with indium and gallium. The room-temperature dark dc conductivity of the films has been found to change by several orders of magnitude within the studied dopant atomic concentration range (∼3×10 -5 to ∼1×10 -2). The conductivity change from n to p type for the more heavily doped materials indicates effective p-type doping. The hydrogen content and the optical gap of the doped films, on the other hand, remain essentially unchanged with respect to the undoped material. For the most doped samples, signs of metallic segregation have been detected in the case of gallium doping. Metallic segregation is not apparent for indium-doped samples.64243273327

“Ásperas proposições”: Jesuítas; moradores e a Inquisição na Amazônia seiscentista no tempo de Vieira, missionário

Este texto analisa quatro denúncias apresentadas ao Santo Ofício da Inquisição de Lisboa contra os padres da Companhia de Jesus do Estado do Maranhão, entre os anos 1656 e 1663. As acusações contra os religiosos coincidem, não fortuitamente, com o período em que o padre Antônio Vieira era a figura de maior influência na missão do Estadodo Maranhão, e com o clímax dos conflitos entre os jesuítas e moradores em torno da mão-de-obra indígena. Nesse sentido, trata-se de entender essas denúncias a partir do contexto de embates em que foram produzidas. Por outro lado, trata-se de investigar de que modo os acusadores se valeram do Santo Ofício como um instrumento político no conflito contra os padres jesuítas

“DUPLICADOS CLAMORES” QUEIXAS E REBELIÕES NA AMAZÔ NIA COLONIAL (SÉCULO XVII)

Este artigo examina duas revoltas ocorridas no antigo Estado do Maranhão, região que corresponde, aproximadamente, à atual Amazônia brasileira, em 1661 e 1684. Os dois levantes têm sido comumente analisados como revoltas antijesuíticas, uma vez que esses religiosos foram expulsos da região nas duas ocasiões. Entretanto, eles revelam, igualmente, as contradições da colonização e a percepção de uma boa parte da população portuguesa a respeito das políticas da Coroa para o desenvolvimento do Estado. Trata-se, assim, de entender as razões que alegaram e as crenças que fundamentaram e legitimaram sua revolta contra os religiosos da Companhia de Jesus e contra as autoridades coloniais