The Value of Clean Water: Experimental Evidence from Rural India

Fiona Burlig, Amir Jina and Anant Sudarshan

American Economic Review, 2026, vol. 116, issue 3, 1148-87

Abstract: Over 2 billion people lack clean drinking water. Existing solutions face high costs (piped water) or low demand (point-of-use chlorine). Using a 60,000 household cluster-randomized experiment, we test an alternative approach: decentralized treatment and home delivery of clean water to the rural poor. At low prices, take-up exceeds 90 percent, sustained throughout the experiment. High prices reduce take-up but are privately profitable. We experimentally recover revealed-preference measures of valuation. Willingness-to-pay is several times higher than prior indirect estimates; willingness-to-accept is larger and exceeds marginal cost. Self-reported health measures improve accordingly. On a cost-per-DALY basis, free water delivery regimes appear highly cost effective.

JEL-codes: I12 O12 O13 O18 Q25 Q51 Q53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1257/aer.20250278

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