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Who should own and control urban water systems? Disease and the municipalisation of private waterworks in nineteenth-century England

Author

Listed:
  • Nicola Tynan

    (Dickinson College)

  • Brian Beach

    (College of William & Mary)

  • Werner Troesken

    (University of Pittsburgh)

Abstract

"Nearly one third of England’s more than 300 privately built waterworks became publicly owned by 1910. In this paper, we study the extent to which public acquisition affected deaths from typhoid fever, a waterborne disease. We collect annual district-level typhoid fatality rates from 1869 to 1910, which are then paired with detailed waterworks information. By exploiting the variation in municipalization across time, we find that deaths from typhoid fever fell by approximately 19 percent in the years following municipalization. The effect is even larger for older waterworks. Although a large body of previous research has explored how the switch between public and private ownership affects waterborne disease rates, that research yields conflicting results and is limited to the United States and Argentina. The data and identification strategies we employ help reconcile these results and allow us to better disentangle the effects of epidemics and changes in ownership regimes."

Suggested Citation

  • Nicola Tynan & Brian Beach & Werner Troesken, 2016. "Who should own and control urban water systems? Disease and the municipalisation of private waterworks in nineteenth-century England," Working Papers 16006, Economic History Society.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehs:wpaper:16006
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    File URL: http://www.ehs.org.uk/dotAsset/a409b2f7-e45c-42ff-b3b1-d341ba63b54e.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Werner Troesken, 2004. "Water, Race, and Disease," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number troe04-1, March.
    2. Robert Millward & Sally Sheard, 1995. "The urban fiscal problem, 1870-1914: government expenditure and finance in England and Wales," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 48(3), pages 501-535, August.
    3. Christine E. Amsler & Robin L. Bartlett & Craig J. Bolton, 1981. "Thoughts of Some British Economists on Early Limited Liability and Corporate Legislation," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 13(4), pages 774-793, Winter.
    4. Werner Troesken, 2003. "Municipalizing American Waterworks, 1897--1915," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 373-400, October.
    5. David M. Cutler & Grant Miller, 2006. "Water, Water Everywhere. Municipal Finance and Water Supply in American Cities," NBER Chapters, in: Corruption and Reform: Lessons from America's Economic History, pages 153-183, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Troesken, Werner, 2001. "Race, Disease, And The Provision Of Water In American Cities, 1889–1921," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 61(3), pages 750-776, September.
    7. Troesken, Werner, 1999. "Typhoid Rates and the Public Acquisition of Private Waterwork, 1880–1920," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 59(4), pages 927-948, December.
    8. Sebastian Galiani & Paul Gertler & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2005. "Water for Life: The Impact of the Privatization of Water Services on Child Mortality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(1), pages 83-120, February.
    9. David Cutler & Grant Miller, 2005. "The role of public health improvements in health advances: The twentieth-century United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-22, February.
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    JEL classification:

    • N00 - Economic History - - General - - - General

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