Managing a scarce resource in a growing Asian economy: Water usage in Hong Kong

Chi-Keung Woo, Wing-Keung Wong, Ira Horowitz and Hing-Lin Chan

Journal of Asian Economics, 2012, vol. 23, issue 4, 374-382

Abstract: An econometric analysis of Hong Kong's monthly per capita water usage for the 25-year period of April 1985 through March 2010 reveals that per capita usage is insensitive to price but dependent upon past usage, per capita income, weather, and seasonal factors, with rising income countering what would otherwise be a downward trend. Given Hong Kong's current inflationary environment and large government budget surplus, these findings affirm the Hong Kong Water Supplies Department's adopted strategy of total water management towards sustainable use of water resources, in lieu of either periodic service interruption or price increases as policy instruments.

Keywords: Hong Kong; Water-usage elasticity; Demand-side management; Price elasticity; Partial-adjustment regression model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 D12 H42 L95 O18 Q25 Q32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:asieco:v:23:y:2012:i:4:p:374-382

DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2012.03.007

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