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Economic development and residential water consumption in Chile

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2018

Juan Fercovic ,
William Foster  and
Oscar Melo Open the ORCID record for Oscar Melo [Opens in a new window]
Juan Fercovic
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
William Foster
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile Centre for the Socioeconomic Impact of Environmental Policies (CESIEP), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
Oscar Melo*
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile Centre for the Socioeconomic Impact of Environmental Policies (CESIEP), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile Centro Interdisciplinario de Cambio Global, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile Water Law and Management Center, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: omelo@uc.cl
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Abstract

A better understanding of the relative importance of factors related to climate change and to changes associated with economic growth would serve to inform water policy and to focus scarce public resources on anticipated problems arising from distinct sources of changes in water demand. This article investigates the determinants of residential water consumption in Chile, a developing country that has seen noteworthy changes in incomes, household size, poverty rates and levels of urbanization, and which is projected to experience significant climatic but varied changes, depending on the region of the country. Panel data for 1998-2010 at the municipal level is used to analyze the sensitivity of residential water demand to climate and development-related factors. In the case of Chile, the effect on water consumption of these development-related changes is estimated to be several times that of the changes associated with climate projections for 50 to 80 years in the future.

Keywords

Chileclimate changeeconomic developmentpanel dataresidential water consumptionwater demand elasticities
Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , February 2019 , pp. 23 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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