Why does piped water not reduce diarrhea for children? Evidence from urban Yemen

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This paper investigates why household connections to piped water supply can increase diarrheal diseases among under-5-year-old children. Using a unique mix of household data, microbiological test results and spatial information from urban Yemen it is possible to distinguish the adverse impacts of malfunctioning water pipes from unhygienic household behavior on water pollution and health outcomes. The analysis consists of three parts: First, exogenous variation of pipe construction is used to quantify the health impact of access to piped water, which is found to increase the risk of child diarrhea by 4.6 percentage points. Second, by exploiting the spatial correlation of pollution among households connected to the same water pipe, it is shown that broken pipes and interruptions of water supply are responsible for most of the water pollution. Third, unhygienic water storage and handling at household level additionally increases water pollution. These results show for the first time that water rationing can jeopardize the intended health benefits of access to clean drinking water. Importantly, these results apply to most urban areas in Africa and the Middle East where water resources are limited and water supply is frequently interrupted.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Discussion Papers ; No. 119

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs ; Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development ; Economic Development: Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
• Subject: Water and Sanitation ; Diarrhea ; Child Health ; Impact Evaluation ; Yemen

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Lechtenfeld, Tobias
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Courant Research Centre - Poverty, Equity and Growth (CRC-PEG)
• (where): Göttingen
• (when): 2012

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/90462
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET