Third-Degree Price Discrimination and Regulation in the Municipal Water Industry
研究了市政水务企业的三级价格歧视行为及州监管对水价结构的影响，通过统计检验直接测量价格歧视程度和受监管与未受监管企业的费率差异。
Beginning with Stigler and Friedland's classic study (1962), economists in the past two decades have shown new interest in the study of public utilities. Among the issues that first received attention were the cost comparisons between the investor-owned and municipally owned utilities (for both electric and water services), and the effect of state regulation on the cost and rate structure of investor-owned electric utilities. More recent issues have included the determination of the rate structure for municipally owned utilities. While studies have emerged for electric utilities-see Peltzman (1971), Mann and Seifried (1972), Mann (1974), Hollas and Friedland (1980a,b)-very little research has been done on the municipally owned water utilities (Mann 1973). This paper will address two previously neglected issues concerning the rate structure for municipally owned water utilities1: (1) the practice of third-degree price discrimination, and (2) the role of state regulation in governing rate structures. Based on the theory of price discrimination, statistical tests have been applied to directly measure the extent of price discrimination and the extent of differences in rate structure between the regulated and unregulated utilities.