Open Water: Impacts of Retail Competition on Service Performance and Water-Use Efficiency in England

Maitreyee Mukherjee and Olivia Jensen

Utilities Policy, 2022, vol. 79, issue C

Abstract: This paper examines the retail water service market introduced in England in 2017, which allows non-domestic consumers to choose their water retailer. Market competition was intended to motivate service improvement and enhance water-use efficiency. Interview and survey data on the responses of incumbent water companies and the impact on consumers reveal varied strategic responses but no significant change in service quality or bills. High transaction costs linked to market complexity, incompetent data management, asymmetric information, and regulatory restrictions account for the limited impact of market opening. Finally, contrary to expectation, the retail market does not appear to affect water-use efficiency uptake significantly.

Keywords: Water governance; Retail water market; Privatization; Competition; England (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:juipol:v:79:y:2022:i:c:s0957178722000935

DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2022.101429

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