Sanitation, Disease Externalities, and Anemia: Evidence from Nepal
48 Pages
Posted: 10 Dec 2016
Research Institute for Compassionate Economics (r.i.c.e.)
University of Texas at Austin; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
University of Texas at Austin; Economics and Planning Unit, ISI-Delhi; r.i.c.e.
There are 2 versions of this paper
Date Written: December 8, 2016
Abstract
Anemia impairs physical and cognitive development in children and reduces human capital accumulation. The prior economics literature has focused on the role of inadequate nutrition in causing anemia. This paper is the first to show that sanitation, a public good, significantly contributes to preventing anemia. We identify effects by exploiting rapid and differential improvement in sanitation across regions of Nepal between 2006 and 2011. Within regions over time, cohorts of children exposed to better community sanitation developed higher hemoglobin levels. Our results highlight a previously undocumented externality of open defecation, which is today practiced by over a billion people worldwide.
Keywords: anemia, sanitation, open defecation
JEL Classification: I15, H41, O12, J10
Suggested Citation:
Suggested Citation
Coffey, Diane and Geruso, Michael and Spears, Dean, Sanitation, Disease Externalities, and Anemia: Evidence from Nepal (December 8, 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2882367
