Paper #250

Títol:

Seeking theta's desperately: Estimating the distribution of consumers under increasing block rates

Autors:

Pedro Delicado, Fidel Castro i Jose M. Da Rocha

Data:

Desembre 1997

Resum:

This paper shows that the distribution of observed consumption is not a good proxy for the distribution of heterogeneous consumers when the current tariff is an increasing block tariff. We use a two step method to recover the "true" distribution of consumers. First, we estimate the demand function induced by the current tariff. Second, using the demand system, we specify the distribution of consumers as a function of observed consumption to recover the true distribution. Finally, we design a new two-part tariff which allows us to evaluate the equity of the existence of an increasing block tariff.

Paraules clau:

Heterogeneous demand, nonlinear pricing

Codis JEL:

L15, L95

Àrea de Recerca:

Microeconomia

Publicat a:

Journal of Regulatory Economics, 22 (1), pp. 29-58, 2002
Amb el títol:
Desperately seeking theta's: Estimating the distribution of consumers under increasing block rates

Descarregar el paper en format PDF