Comparison of the price level of the water and sewerage charge rates and macroeconomic indicators in the Czech Republic

Abstract

This article focused on comparing the development of the price level of the water and sewerage charge rates in the regions of the Czech Republic to the development of macroeconomic indicators expressing the performance of the individual region. The following were selected as macroeconomic indicators: gross domestic product, gross domestic product per capita, net disposable income of households, net disposable income of households per capita and average gross wage. The Czech Republic is divided into 14 regions. In each region, a different price level of the water and sewerage charge rate was determined. At the same time, each region had a different performance which is represented by the above-mentioned macroeconomic indicators. It follows from the definition of Act No. 274/2001 Coll., the water supply and sewerage systems operation is in the public interest. This raised the research question of whether regions with lower performance also have a lower price level of water and sewerage charge rates from the point of view of the purchasing power of the inhabitants of this region. Confirmation or rejection of this hypothesis was based on the creation of 91 matrix expressions. The input data for the creation of matrices contained 196 items of data on the price level of the water and sewerage charge rates and 1,176 items of data on macroeconomic indicators. The hypothesis was not confirmed as only 1 region met the condition, namely the Olomouc Region, which had a lower price level of water and sewerage charge rates and lower efficiency.