Allocation of costs of improvements in river basins between users of water: an application of the Shapley value

• Main Authors: Leite, Gil Bracarense, Vieira, Wilson da Cruz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: cost allocation; Environmental Economics and Policy; Paraíba do Sul River basin; shapley value; Water resources

The objective of this work was to analyze the cost allocation of improvements in river basins among the water users. It was used, as example, the Paraíba do Sul river basin, located in the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and, as criteria of allocation of costs, they were used the volumes of water extracted and consumed, and the quantity of pollutants deposited in the basin area by water users. The methodology used consists of the rule of allocation known as Shapley value, which belongs to the cooperative branch of game theory. In the case of Paraíba do Sul river basin, the values found indicated that the urban users should pay the higher part of the costs of improvements, given that these users are responsible for most of the pollution in the basin area, being the reduction of water quality an important problem in this basin.