Publications in: Water and sewerage

A Guide to Privatisation – Best Practices and Procedures

Published:16 February, 2023

Many countries have privatised some or all of their State-Owned Enterprises in order to improve the efficiency of their economies and raise revenues for the government. Some of the privatisation experiences have been more successful than others and a wealth of knowledge on what works in a privatisation has been accumulated over the last 40 […]

Understanding Customer Values – Behavioural Experiment Report – March 2019

Published:6 March, 2019

This study was undertaken for Yorkshire Water, as subcontractor to Aecom, to understand the values customers place on water service attributes as part of the 2019 price review process. London Economics conducted an online behavioural experiment to examine customers’ willingness to pay for service improvements and the impact of various framing treatments on customers’ valuations. […]

Future Options for Managing Customer Demand for Water – March 2019

Published:21 March, 2019

Yorkshire Water commissioned London Economics to write a paper on interventions to manage water demand with a special focus on interventions which use behavioural economics. The paper also assessed the effectiveness of temporary use bans (TUBs), commonly known as ‘hosepipe bans’, which must be introduced in times of severe droughts. A rapid evidence assessment of […]

Reform in the Australian Urban Water Sector: the Productivity Commission Inquiry

Published: April, 2011

This Economic Brief by London Economics, reviews the interim report of the Australian Productivity Commission inquiry into the urban water sector in Australia and compares their propoals for water reform with the reform proposals being debated in the UK.

Competition in Upstream Sewage and Sludge Markets

Published: March, 2010

This research provides Ofwat with an independent assessment of the level of ‘in-the-market’ competition that already exists in the upstream sewage and sludge sector in England and Wales; an assessment of the scope for increasing competition in the sewage and sludge markets; and some options for further developing upstream competition in sewage and sludge markets.

Innovation in the Water Industry in England and Wales

Published: February, 2009

As part of the independent Cave Review of competition and innovation in water markets, London Economics undertook a benchmarking exercise of innovation across all water and sewerage companies in England and Wales. The work also provides international comparisons of innovation,, and assesses the barriers to innovation and how these may be addressed.  

PR04 Scope for Efficiency Studies

Published: November, 2003

This report for OFWAT provides an assessment of the scope for future operating and capital efficiency in the water and sewerage industries by using both a “top-down” and “bottom-up” approach. The top-down approach assesses the scope for future efficiency improvements by analysing past productivity trends in the water and sewerage industries and by undertaking a […]

OLS and Instrumental Variable Price Elasticity Estimates for Water in Mixed-Effect Models Under a Multipart Tariff Structure

Published: April, 2002

A mixed-effects residential demand model for potable water is developed using a longitudinal data set constructed for the analysis. The data set comprises of 1,065 households from the Sydney Metropolitan and Wollongong areas, covering sixteen quarters from 1990 to 1994. The purpose of developing the demand model is to use it as a base model […]

De Waterindustrie in Engeland En Wales (The Water Industry in England and Wales)

Published: June, 2000

Economisch Statistische Berichten Dossier:  Liberalisering van Netwerksectoren, Nederlands Economische Instituut, 22 June 2000, Volume 85, No. 4261, 2000. Jones, S.