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Human Right to Water Act and drinking water compliance: A synthetic control approach

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  • Cho, Chanheung

Abstract

This paper evaluates the impact of California’s Human Right to Water Act (HR2W) on drinking water compliance using a synthetic control approach. We construct a counterfactual from other U.S. states to estimate the 2016 policy’s causal effect. The results show a significant decline in the enforcement priority of public water systems (PWSs) in California relative to the synthetic counterpart. Robustness checks confirm that this decline is not driven by confounding factors like federal regulations. These findings provide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of targeted water governance policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Cho, Chanheung, 2025. "Human Right to Water Act and drinking water compliance: A synthetic control approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:253:y:2025:i:c:s0165176525001983
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2025.112361
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Drinking water compliance; Environmental regulation; Regulatory enforcement; Synthetic control method;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q25 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Water
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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