Using econometric analysis of willingness-to-pay to investigate economic efficiency and equity of domestic water services in the West Bank

The paper is aimed at providing evidence on economic efficiency, and equity of distribution of domestic water services in the West Bank. The study utilizes the CVM as a means of monetizing public preferences and households' WTP. In the CVM questionnaire, the dichotomous choice with follow-up debriefing questions format is followed by an open-ended follow-up question was undertaken. A second questionnaire survey was directed to employees from water institutions, which was mainly designed to investigate the reasons behind the full absence of private sector in the provision of water supply. The two samples were selected to ensure a representative samples in accordance with the Palestinian case. The main findings of this paper gauged the WTP with key socioeconomic variables suggested by economic theory and previous CVM studies. These results provide information on economic efficiency and equity of water distribution. The results will allow decision makers to develop new policies that can achieve more efficient and equitable domestic water services. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.