Climate Adaptation Policies and Infant Health: Evidence from a Water Policy in Brazil

Daniel Da Mata, Lucas Emanuel (), Vitor Pereira () and Breno Sampaio
Additional contact information
Lucas Emanuel: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
Vitor Pereira: National School of Public Administration

No 14295, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper studies how in utero exposure to a large-scale climate adaptation program affects birth outcomes. The program built around one million cisterns in Brazil's poorest and driest region to promote small-scale decentralized rainfall harvesting. Access to cisterns during early pregnancy increased birth weight, particularly for more educated women. Data suggest that more educated women complied more with the program's water disinfection training, highlighting that even simple, low-cost technologies require final users' compliance ("the last mile") to be effective. In the context of growing water scarcity, adaptation policies can foster neonatal health and thus have positive long-run implications.

Keywords: birth outcomes; adaptation; climate; cisterns; water (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 Q25 Q54 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 97 pages
Date: 2021-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-dev, nep-env and nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published - published in: Journal of Public Economics, 2023, 220, 104835

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Journal Article: Climate adaptation policies and infant health: Evidence from a water policy in Brazil (2023)
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