An understanding of the "fairness" of a tariff or price schedule can be useful for many types of policy analysis. The Gini coefficient is suggested as one way to assess fairness where user groups are well defined. The Gini coefficient is calculated for a sample of California water purveyors over a ten-year period.
An extension of a previous abstract time series analysis of water demand, this study in corporates the effects of price changes and water district conservation efforts. The findings indicate that a 10% price increase will reduce water consumption by 3,6% and that a 10% increase in conservation effort (real dollars expended) reduces water usage by 0.4%
Discussion of the role of internally generated funds as a dynamic and influential determinant of investment decisions has been renewed lately in the macroeconomic investment literature. While there is a current revival, the hypothesis is not a new one. In the classic study of the financial history of eight leading American automobile manufacturers over the period 1910 to 1926, Lawrence H. Seltzer concludes that "the greatest part of the growth in their capital resources was derived from reinvested profits; and that this source accounts for much the greater part of their present invested capital." He estimates that for the period through 1926 net aggregate reinvested profits were equal, on average, to almost 80 percent of the value of tangible invested capital.3 Seltzer suggests that this remarkably high percentage was the result of the unique situation of the automobile industry, although carefully pointing out that the general importance of internal funds may be greater than commonly realized.
