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Production, Finance, and Pricing Decisions of Public Utilities under Demand Uncertainty

Kim, Jisu

Published: January 1991 · Vol. 20, No. 2 · pp. 297-324
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Abstract

This paper analyzes the principles of production, pricing, and financial decisions for public utility firms when they pursue pluralistic policy objectives of maximizing consumer surplus through enhanced service use-value while maintaining firm value at an appropriate level to protect the interests of firm owners. First, in the case where the corporate tax shield effect of debt and bankruptcy risk are not considered, it was shown that optimal firm production follows the neoclassical conditions of productive efficiency and optimal pricing follows the traditional Ramsey pricing principle. However, when bankruptcy risk under demand uncertainty and corporate taxes are considered, these factors must be reflected in the firm's optimal capital structure and product production and pricing decisions. In particular, this paper analyzes how the systematic risk of demand uncertainty should be reflected in product pricing decisions, and demonstrates that, in employment decisions for production factors, the existence of bankruptcy risk can serve as a factor that increases the firm's use of capital, provided that the firm's optimal debt-to-equity ratio is not overwhelmingly high.