Clean Water and Infant Health: Evidence from Piped Water Provision in China

Maoyong Fan and Guojun He

Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 2023, vol. 10, issue 1, 159 - 193

Abstract: We examine the impact of clean drinking water on infant mortality in China using a novel instrumental variable: the least-cost distance of piped water infrastructure between water sources and infant mortality surveillance areas. We find that the provision of piped water significantly decreases infant mortality, with a 10 percentage point increase in piped water coverage reducing infant mortality by 15%. Compared with regions with highly polluted surface waters, access to piped water is particularly beneficial in regions with slightly polluted surface waters, in which the pollution is difficult to observe. A simple cost-benefit analysis indicates that the benefits of piped water provision in rural China significantly outweigh the estimated costs.

Date: 2023
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