Investigating socio-economic factors underlying urban consumers' willingness to pay extra for drinking water

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of economic and social factors on increasing public participation in the urban drinking water sector to develop a suitable plan for the coming years due to the growing population. The research instrument is a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability were confirmed. Then, 1,230 questionnaires were distributed among the citizens of Ardabil, Iran. A two-stage Heckman approach was used to estimate the valuation model. The results showed that the education, age, water health concern, income, household cost, household size and water quality satisfaction had a significant role in the amount of willingness to pay extra (WTP). The results showed that the variable age, income and water quality have a positive effect on WTP; with increases in the age, income and the water quality, WTP increases. However, in contrast to the water bill, concerns about the health of water and children have a negative effect on WTP. The results showed that the government could increase their tendency to participate with the government by informing people to water value and improve the quality of water.