Economic Analysis of Japanese Drinking Water Utilities: Plant Aging and Decline in Water Quality

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24530332
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Economic policy
• Research Institution: Momoyama Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: Yane Shinji 桃山学院大学, 経済学部, 教授 (90174557)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): Okamura Makoto 広島大学, 社会科学研究科, 教授 (30177084) ; Noda Tomohiko 大阪府立大学, 経済学部, 教授 (30258321) ; Okuda Mai 神奈川大学, 経済学部, 助教 (90711549)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 水道事業 / 効率性 / 確率フロンティア分析 / 包絡線分析 / 老朽化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We compared the differences between respective utilities and regions, by organizing the statistical data of Japan's water supply business and measuring the efficiency of production as well as aging degrees of water pipes. Utilities that distribute the same amount of drinking water using less resources are more efficient by the amount they are able to save. Moreover, utilities with older water pipes have a greater aging degree compared to those with fewer decrepit pipes, even if the pipes are the same length. As a result, there is a huge gap among the efficiencies of the utilities, and we found that the aging degrees are also growing.

Free Research Field

産業組織論