Making ends meet: Actual versus potential joint affordability of utility services

Rita Martins, Carlota Quintal and Micaela Antunes

Utilities Policy, 2019, vol. 56, issue C, 120-126

Abstract: This paper analyses the joint affordability of a set of essential services (water, energy, and communications). To overcome the limitations of analyses based on actual expenditures, the paper addresses potential affordability, advancing a method to assess it empirically. It also investigates beyond national averages by using microeconomic data from the 2015/2016 Portuguese Household Budget Survey. The disaggregated analysis reveals disparities, with poorer and larger families presenting higher burdens of utility expenditures. A sensitivity analysis reveals that at least 9% of households face actual affordability problems. Potential affordability results suggest the existence of under-consumption within the first two expenditure quintiles.

Keywords: Joint affordability; Utilities; Potential affordability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D18 L94 L95 L96 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:juipol:v:56:y:2019:i:c:p:120-126

DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2018.12.002

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