Adonis Yatchew, "Scale Economies in Electricity Distribution: A Semiparametric Analysis", Journal of Applied Econometrics, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2000, pp. 187-210. The data used in this article were acquired on a confidential basis from the Municipal Electric Association. During the period under study, there were approximately 300 municipal utilities in Ontario, almost all of which were members of the Association. Our sample of 81 utilities consists of those for which the most complete data exist. Since data tended to be missing for very small utilities, our truncated data-set actually represents over 70% of the municipal utility customer base. Requests for access to the data should be directed to: Municipal Electric Association 20 Eglinton West, Suite 500 Toronto Canada M5R 1K8 (416) 483-7739 Please address any question regarding the paper to Adonis Yatchew Economics Department University of Toronto 150 St. George St. Toronto Canada M5S 1A1 (416) 978-7128 yatchew@chass.utoronto.ca The following tables, which appear as Appendix 2 in the paper, contain summary statistics for the data and details of variable construction. APPENDIX 2: VARIABLE DEFINITIONS AND SUMMARY STATISTICS 1993 1994 1995 mean sd min max mean sd min max mean sd min max RAW DATA TC total costs ($mill/annum) 6.73 17.22 .137 137.0 7.02 17.44 .144 138.0 7.02 17.06 .153 134.0 CUST number of customers 23538 41012 629 219376 23718 41236 624 219723 23895 41474 636 220215 WAGE wage of lineman($/hour) 21.35 1.92 16.50 24.53 21.54 1.88 16.75 24.53 21.64 1.86 17.00 24.53 TOTPLANT accum. gross 53.08 116.0 .891 767.0 55.80 121.0 .945 776.0 59.98 133.0 .970 881.0 investment ($mill.) .457 .501 0 1 .457 .501 0 1 .457 .501 0 1 PUC public utility commission 791 1630 14.2 9220 799 1640 14.51 9310 802 1640 15.3 9150 dummy 14.41 2.303 8.90 21.2 13.41 2.303 7.90 20.2 12.41 2.303 6.90 19.2 KWH kilo-watt hour sales 70.94 5.235 37.59 82.54 70.94 5.235 37.59 82.54 70.94 5.235 37.59 82.54 (gwh/yr) 311.24 529.83 10.0 3000.0 311.79 529.75 10.2 3000.1 312.22 529.73 10.8 3000.2 LIFE fixed assets remaining lifetime (yrs) LF load factor (%) KMWIRE kilometres of distribution wire Dependent variable: y tc log(TC/CUST) 5.439 .236 4.816 6.439 5.474 .243 4.894 6.439 5.500 .216 5.080 6.410 Nonparametric independent variable: x 8.875 1.540 6.444 12.299 8.886 1.540 6.436 12.300 8.894 1.539 6.455 12.300 cust log(CUST) Parametric independent variables: PUC .457 .501 0 1 .457 .501 0 1 .457 .501 0 1 wage log(WAGE) 3.057 .092 2.803 3.20 3.066 .089 2.818 3.20 3.070 .088 2.833 3.20 pcap log(TOTPLANT/KMWIRE) 11.686 .454 10.305 12.63 11.732 .454 10.381 12.68 11.792 .458 10.430 12.76 kwh log(KWH/CUST) 10.088 .285 9.392 10.70 10.085 .295 9.340 10.72 10.078 .302 9.313 10.74 life log(LIFE) 2.655 .162 2.186 3.05 2.581 .175 2.067 3.01 2.501 .190 1.932 2.95 lf log(LF) 4.258 .087 3.627 4.41 4.259 .087 3.627 4.41 4.258 .087 3.627 4.41 kmwire log(KMWIRE/CUST) -4.292 .317 -4.989 -3.626 -4.292 .312 -4.994 -3.630 -4.292 .313 -5.000 -3.607