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Nature's Call: Impacts of Sanitation Choices in Orissa, India

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  • Katherine L. Dickinson
  • Sumeet R. Patil
  • Subhrendu K. Pattanayak
  • Christine Poulos
  • Jui-Hen Yang

Abstract

Worldwide, over 2.5 billion people lack access to basic sanitation, a situation that contributes to 2 million annual diarrhea-related child deaths and substantial morbidity. Yet rigorous evaluations of sanitation behaviors and their health and welfare impacts are rare. This article uses a randomized sanitation promotion campaign in Orissa, India, to evaluate child health and household welfare outcomes. The sanitation campaign increased households' ownership and use of latrines and improved children's mid-upper-arm circumference, height, and weight z-scores. Switching from open defecation to latrine use also saved time and increased satisfaction in sanitation conditions. We use our results to illustrate the cost-benefit calculus underlying this seemingly unglamorous and mundane household choice with potentially large environmental externalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine L. Dickinson & Sumeet R. Patil & Subhrendu K. Pattanayak & Christine Poulos & Jui-Hen Yang, 2015. "Nature's Call: Impacts of Sanitation Choices in Orissa, India," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(1), pages 1-29.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/682958
    DOI: 10.1086/682958
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    1. Alix Peterson Zwane & Michael Kremer, 2007. "What Works in Fighting Diarrheal Diseases in Developing Countries? A Critical Review," CID Working Papers 140, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    2. Lee, Lung-fei & Rosenzweig, Mark R. & Pitt, Mark M., 1997. "The effects of improved nutrition, sanitation, and water quality on child health in high-mortality populations," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 209-235, March.
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    4. Santosh Kumar & Sebastian Vollmer, 2013. "Does Access To Improved Sanitation Reduce Childhood Diarrhea In Rural India?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(4), pages 410-427, April.
    5. Mir Anjum Altaf & Jeffrey A. Hughes, 1994. "Measuring the Demand for Improved Urban Sanitation Services: Results of a Contingent Valuation Study in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 31(10), pages 1763-1776, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Orgill-Meyer, Jennifer & Pattanayak, Subhrendu K., 2020. "Improved sanitation increases long-term cognitive test scores," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    2. Augsburg, Britta & Caeyers, Bet & Giunti, Sara & Malde, Bansi & Smets, Susanna, 2023. "Labeled loans and human capital investments," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    3. Adam Biran & Rosie Sanderson & Diana Gonzalez & Hugo Bugoro & Mohammad Kadir & David Gegeo & Jamesford Keboy & Clement Lifoia & Sheilla Funubo & Hellenda Honimae & Lanique Naolina Pitasua & Joanna Tat, 2022. "Formative Research Using Settings and Motives to Explore Child Faeces Disposal and Management in Rural Solomon Islands," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-15, August.
    4. Brown, Joe & Hamoudi, Amar & Jeuland, Marc & Turrini, Gina, 2017. "Seeing, believing, and behaving: Heterogeneous effects of an information intervention on household water treatment," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 141-159.
    5. Augsburg, Britta & Rodríguez-Lesmes, Paul Andrés, 2018. "Sanitation and child health in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 22-39.
    6. Jesse D. Contreras & Joseph N.S. Eisenberg, 2019. "Does Basic Sanitation Prevent Diarrhea? Contextualizing Recent Intervention Trials through a Historical Lens," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-35, December.
    7. Artwell Kanda & Esper Jacobeth Ncube & Kuku Voyi, 2021. "Effect of Sanitation Interventions on Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trials in Rural Communities of Low- and Middle-Income Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-16, August.
    8. Stopnitzky, Yaniv, 2017. "No toilet no bride? Intrahousehold bargaining in male-skewed marriage markets in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 269-282.
    9. Yokoo, Hide-Fumi & Harada, Tetsuya, 2023. "What makes green persuasion effective? Evidence from a community-financed sanitation program in Indonesia," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    10. Vani Kant Borooah, 2022. "Development, Sanitation and Personal Hygiene in India," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(1), pages 103-123, February.
    11. Pakhtigian, Emily L. & Dickinson, Katherine L. & Orgill-Meyer, Jennifer & Pattanayak, Subhrendu K., 2022. "Sustaining latrine use: Peers, policies, and sanitation behaviors," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 223-242.
    12. Hutton, Guy & Patil, Sumeet & Kumar, Avni & Osbert, Nicolas & Odhiambo, Francis, 2020. "Comparison of the costs and benefits of the Clean India Mission," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).

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