The child health implications of privatizing africa's urban water supply

Katrina Kosec

Journal of Health Economics, 2014, vol. 35, issue C, 1-19

Abstract: Can private sector participation (PSP) in the piped water sector improve child health? I use child-level data from 39 African countries during 1986–2010 to show that PSP decreases diarrhea among urban-dwelling, under-five children by 2.6 percentage points, or 16% of its mean prevalence. Children from the poorest households benefit most. PSP is also associated with a 7.8 percentage point increase in school attendance of 7–17 year olds. Importantly, PSP increases usage of piped water by 9.7 percentage points, suggesting a possible causal channel explaining health improvements. To attribute causality, I exploit time-variation in the private water market share controlled by African countries’ former colonizers. A placebo analysis reveals that PSP does not affect respiratory illness, nor does it affect a control group of rural children.

Keywords: Water; Child health; Privatization; Infrastructure; Education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I18 L33 L95 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:35:y:2014:i:c:p:1-19

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2014.01.006

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